Group Conquers Efficacy: Preschoolers' Imitation Under Conflict Between Minimal Group Membership and Behavior Efficacy

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2019 Sep 27

PMID 31557248

Citations 2

Authors

Yuanyuan Li

Yifan Liao

Yuang Cheng

Jie He

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Research has found that preschoolers' imitation demonstrates in-group bias and is guided by behavior efficacy. However, little is known about whether children's sensitivity to behavior efficacy affects their in-group imitation. This study aimed to investigate preschoolers' imitation tendency when group preference and behavior efficacy are in conflict. Participants were 4-year-old (N = 72) and 6-year-old (N = 72) preschoolers in China. They observed two demonstrators (one in-group and one out-group) pressing two different buttons, respectively, to turn on a music box, and were then asked to try it themselves. In the experimental condition, the out-group demonstrator always succeeded, whereas the in-group demonstrator failed half the time. The results showed that more 6-year-old children imitated the less-effective behaviors of the in-group demonstrator, whereas 4-year-old children showed no such inclination. Two control conditions confirmed that children chose to imitate in-group rather than out-group members (Control 1: both in-group and out-group demonstrators succeeded all four times), and could imitate according to efficacy (Control 2: two in-group demonstrators succeeded two and four times, respectively). These results indicated that 6-year-olds faithfully followed the in-group modeled behavior, regardless of behavior efficacy. Results are discussed through the social function of in-group imitative learning.

Citing Articles

Exemplary Self-Discipline, Leniency towards Others: Competitive Contexts Amplify the "Black Sheep Effect" in Restoring Ingroup Trust.

Cao N, Miao R, Sun B, Ren Z, Yue G Behav Sci (Basel). 2024; 14(7).

PMID: 39062342 PMC: 11273912. DOI: 10.3390/bs14070519.

Imitation in Chinese Preschool Children: Influence of Prior Self-Experience and Pedagogical Cues on the Imitation of Novel Acts in a Non-Western Culture.

Wang Z, Meltzoff A Front Psychol. 2020; 11:662.

PMID: 32351426 PMC: 7174596. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00662.

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