Babies like to see the bad guys get their 'just desserts'
Katy Morton
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Children as young as eight-months-old can distinguish between good and bad behaviour, and like to see 'bad guys' punished, according to a new study.
Researchers from three American universities presented four scenarios to 100 babies, aged four months and above, using animal hand puppets. After watching puppets act negatively or positively towards other characters, the babies were shown puppets either giving or taking toys from the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ puppets.
When prompted to choose their favourite puppet, babies preferred those that had mistreated the bad characters from the original scene, compared to puppets that treated them nicely.
The team of researchers also examined how older babies would treat good and bad puppets. They asked 64 babies aged 21 months old to give a treat to, or take away a treat from one of two puppets. One of the puppets had previously helped another and the other puppet had harmed another character.
They found that the older children were more likely to physically take away treats from badly behaved puppets and give treats to the good ones.
Professor Kiley Hamlin from the University of British Columbia, who led the study, said, ‘These findings suggest that, from as early as eight months, we are watching for people who might put us in danger and prefer to see antisocial behaviour regulated.
‘The children’s responses may be early forms of the complex behaviours and emotions that get expressed later in life, such as when school children tell on kids who break the rules and the rush people feel when movie villains get their due.
‘While such tendencies surely have many learned components, the fact that they are present so early in life suggests that they may be based in part on an innate foundation of liking those who give others their just desserts.’
When prompted to choose their favourite puppet, babies preferred those that had mistreated the bad characters from the original scene, compared to puppets that treated them nicely.
The team of researchers also examined how older babies would treat good and bad puppets. They asked 64 babies aged 21 months old to give a treat to, or take away a treat from one of two puppets. One of the puppets had previously helped another and the other puppet had harmed another character.
They found that the older children were more likely to physically take away treats from badly behaved puppets and give treats to the good ones.
Professor Kiley Hamlin from the University of British Columbia, who led the study, said, ‘These findings suggest that, from as early as eight months, we are watching for people who might put us in danger and prefer to see antisocial behaviour regulated.
‘The children’s responses may be early forms of the complex behaviours and emotions that get expressed later in life, such as when school children tell on kids who break the rules and the rush people feel when movie villains get their due.
‘While such tendencies surely have many learned components, the fact that they are present so early in life suggests that they may be based in part on an innate foundation of liking those who give others their just desserts.’
