The Boss is Always Right : Preschoolers Endorse the Testimony of a Dominant over that of a Subordinate

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Serval ID
serval:BIB_2B1D524DFAC3
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
The Boss is Always Right : Preschoolers Endorse the Testimony of a Dominant over that of a Subordinate
Journal
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Author(s)
Bernard Stéphane, Castelain Thomas, Mercier Hugo, Kaufmann Laurence, Van der Henst Jean-Baptiste, Clément Fabrice
ISSN
0022-0965
Publication state
Published
Issued date
01/01/2016
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
152
Pages
307-317
Language
english
Abstract
Recent research has shown that young children rely on social cues to evaluate testimony. For instance, they prefer to endorse testimony provided by a consensual group than by a single dissenter. Given that dominance is pervasive in children's social environment, it can be hypothesized that children also use dominance relations in their selection of testimony. To test this hypothesis, a dominance asymmetry was induced between two characters either by having one repeatedly win in physical contests (physical power; Experiment 1) or by having one repeatedly impose her goals on the other (decisional power; Experiment 2). In two subsequent testimony tasks, 3- to 5-year-old children significantly tended to endorse the testimony of the dominant over that of the subordinate. These results suggest that preschoolers take dominance into account when evaluating testimony. In conclusion, we discuss two potential explanations for these findings.
Create date
29/01/2018 12:12
Last modification date
20/08/2019 13:10
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