Chae, J. J. K., & Song, H. J. (2018). Negativity bias in infants’ expectations about agents’ dispositions. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 36(4), 620-633.

https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12246 

Abstract
This study investigated 6‐ and 10‐month‐old infants’ abilities to infer others’ preferences based on social interactions using looking time and choice measures. Infants were randomly assigned to either a helping/neutral or hindering/neutral condition. Those in the helping/neutral condition were first familiarized with a helping event, in which an agent helped a circle climb a hill, and a neutral event, in which another agent followed the same path as the helping agent but had no interaction with the circle. During the test phase, the circle approached either the helper or the neutral agent. In the hindering/neutral condition, the infants were familiarized with a hindering event, in which an agent hindered the circle from reaching the top of the hill, and a neutral event, in which another agent followed the same path as the hindering agent but had no interaction with the circle. During the test phase, the circle approached either the hinderer or the neutral agent. For the looking‐time measure, infants in the hindering/neutral condition looked reliably longer at the approach‐hinderer than at the approach‐neutral agent event, whereas those in the helping/neutral condition looked for equal amounts of time at both test events. These results suggest that the infants expected the circle to avoid the hinderer but did not expect it to approach the helper. In the choice task, infants chose the helper more often than the neutral agent and the neutral agent more often than the hinderer, suggesting an ability to generate their own preferences for a particular agent based on the valence of helping and hindering actions. This research demonstrates infants’ sensitivity to the moral valence of agents’ social interactions, which may serve as a foundation for advanced socio‐moral reasoning.

연구의의

본 연구는 6개월, 10개월의 아동들이 다른 행위자들의 상호작용을 보고 도덕적인 판단을 내릴 수 있음을 보여줌. 다른 사람의 의도를 파악하고 판단을 내리는 것이 공동체 유지를 위해 중요한 능력임을 감안했을 때, 성인 도덕성을 이해하는데 기초가 되는 연구임.