Three-month-olds Show a Negativity Bias in Their Social Evaluations

Overview

Journal Dev Sci

Specialty Psychology

Date 2010 Oct 28

PMID 20977563

Citations 88

Authors

J Kiley Hamlin

Karen Wynn

Paul Bloom

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Previous research has shown that 6-month-olds evaluate others on the basis of their social behaviors--they are attracted to prosocial individuals, and avoid antisocial individuals (Hamlin, Wynn & Bloom, 2007). The current studies investigate these capacities prior to 6 months of age. Results from two experiments indicate that even 3-month-old infants evaluate others based on their social behavior towards third parties, and that negative social information is developmentally privileged.

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