Psychological Development and Education ›› 2019, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (3): 274-281.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2019.03.03

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The Contrast Effect of the Recipient's Outcomes on Prosocial Performance between Adults and Children

XIAO Fengqiu1, ZHENG Zhiwei2,3, CHEN Yinghe4   

  1. 1. China National Children's Center, Beijing 100035;
    2. Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101;
    3. Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049;
    4. Institute of Developmental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875
  • Published:2019-06-19

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Abstract: Prosocial performance refers to a broad category of actions that benefit other people or the society. The mechanisms underlying prosocial performance is a hot topic. Compared with other factors that affect prosocial performance, prosocial outcomes relatively received less attention. This research explored the effects of the recipient's outcomes (prosocial gains vs. prosocial non-losses) and age on prosocial performance. The results revealed that, (1) for adults, prosocial non-losses induced more prosocial performance than prosocial gains; (2) for Grade six children, the prosocial willingness to help others avoid negative outcomes was stronger; (3) Grade two children were more willing to help others gain positive outcomes. These results suggest that the recipient's outcomes produced an effect on prosocial performance, and only adults and old children exhibit prosocial loss aversion.

Key words: prosocial performance, recipient's outcomes, adults, children, prosocial loss aversion

CLC Number: 

  • B844
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