Children consider what others did not know as well as what they could not do when judging their actions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19214031 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shalini Gautam (0000-0002-3739-0247, Boston College), Jingcheng Zhang (0000-0001-5167-4003), Katherine Mcauliffe (0000-0002-1314-0139, Boston College) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-08 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Developmental Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0012-1649 • E-ISSN: 1939-0599 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1037/dev0002200 |
| PMID | 42258288 |
| OpenAlex | W7163869380 |
| Language | EN |
146) aged between 5 and 10. We told children stories about three characters who either (a) had a choice and caused a bad outcome, (b) had no choice but to cause a bad outcome, or (c) do not know they had a choice and caused a bad outcome. Broadly, we find that children across all countries are more lenient of bad actions when characters in the story did not know they had another choice available. Overall, these findings provide evidence that children consider what others did not know, as well as what they could not do, when judging their actions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)
Child development · Multiple choice · PsycINFO · Social cognition · Social perception · Child and Animal Learning Development · Face Recognition and Perception · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |