Mid- and long-term effects of young children's bias on intention judgment development

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26780365
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Educational psychology
• Research Institution: Kyushu Institute of Technology (2017); Chubu University (2014-2016)
• Principal Investigator: Sato Tomomi (分部友美) 九州工業大学, 教養教育院, 准教授 (80633825)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 幼児 / 意図判断 / 楽観性バイアス / 社会的スキル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Young children have a tendency to judge others’ intention positively, called positivity bias. To reveal an adaptive role of the bias in sociality development, we conducted a longitudinal study on the relationship between strength of positivity bias at three- to four-year-olds and one-year-later social skills. Children, who had judged an agent as “unintended” even if the agent had clearly wished to disturb a patient, was less likely to show aggressive behavior one year later. The results suggested that positivity bias plays an important role in social development, especially inhibiting aggressive behavior, which challenges a prevailing negative view on bias.

Free Research Field

発達心理学