Young children mostly keep, and expect others to keep, their promises.

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

2017-03-09

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Repository Usage Stats

260
views
446
downloads

Citation Stats

Abstract

Promises are speech acts that create an obligation to do the promised action. In three studies, we investigated whether 3- and 5-year-olds (N=278) understand the normative implications of promising in prosocial interactions. In Study 1, children helped a partner who promised to share stickers. When the partner failed to uphold the promise, 3- and 5-year-olds protested and referred to promise norms. In Study 2, when children in this same age range were asked to promise to continue a cleaning task-and they agreed-they persisted longer on the task and mentioned their obligation more frequently than without such a promise. They also persisted longer after a promise than after a cleaning reminder (Study 3). In prosocial interactions, thus, young children feel a normative obligation to keep their promises and expect others to keep their promises as well.

Department

Description

Provenance

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1016/j.jecp.2017.02.004

Publication Info

Kanngiesser, Patricia, Bahar Köymen and Michael Tomasello (2017). Young children mostly keep, and expect others to keep, their promises. J Exp Child Psychol, 159. pp. 140–158. 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.02.004 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/13884.

This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.

Scholars@Duke

Tomasello

Michael Tomasello

James F. Bonk Distinguished Professor

Major research interests in processes of social cognition, social learning, cooperation, and communication from developmental, comparative, and cultural perspectives. Current theoretical focus on processes of shared intentionality. Empirical research mainly with human children from 1 to 4 years of age and great apes.


Unless otherwise indicated, scholarly articles published by Duke faculty members are made available here with a CC-BY-NC (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial) license, as enabled by the Duke Open Access Policy. If you wish to use the materials in ways not already permitted under CC-BY-NC, please consult the copyright owner. Other materials are made available here through the author’s grant of a non-exclusive license to make their work openly accessible.