Toddlers prefer agents who help those facing harder tasks

Abstract

Capacities to understand and evaluate others’ actions are fundamental to human social life. Infants and toddlers are sensitive to the costs of others’ actions, infer others’ values from the costs of the actions they take, and prefer those who help others to those who hinder them, but it is largely unknown whether and how cost considerations inform early understanding of third-party prosocial actions. In three experiments (N = 94), we asked whether 16-month-old toddlers value agents who selectively help those who need it most, because the individual they help faces a greater challenge or lacks the strength to succeed on their own. Toddlers preferred an agent who chose to help the individual attempting a high-cost action (climbing a steep ramp) over an agent who chose to help the individual facing a lower-cost action (climbing a shallow ramp), as evidenced by their selective reaching (Experiment 1) and looking (Experiment 2) to the former agent. This preference was specific to helping contexts: Toddlers looked equally at agents who chose to perform the harder vs. easier task while acting alone Experiment 2). Furthermore, when two individuals faced the same task but differed in strength, toddlers preferred an agent who helped the weaker individual to an agent who helped the stronger individual (Experiment 3). These results provide evidence that toddlers engage in need-based evaluations of helping, applying their understanding of action utilities to their social evaluations.