Kindness Begins Earlier Than Previously Thought

Photo by Ditto Bowo on Unsplash

A recent article in the online Greater Good Magazine discusses the findings of a new study that indicate the desire to be kind to those in need may begin much younger than we think, even amongst babies.

Jill Suttie looks at the results of a study by Rose Donohue and colleagues out of Washing University, St Louis, who studied the behaviour of a racially and socio-economically diverse group of 11- to 20-month-old babies to see how they would respond to someone needing help.

The researcher demonstrated two tasks: putting multiple balls into a box, or stacking blocks. First, the researcher playfully showed how the task is done, then, she mimicked being unable to reach the piece she needed to finish the task, signalling a desire for assistance. The baby was able to choose either to help by putting the required ball or block into the researcher’s hand or by finishing the task for her, or by blocking the researcher’s hand to prevent her from completing the task. If the baby didn’t respond within 20 seconds, the researcher offered a prompt, by saying, “The ball,” or “I can’t reach.”

Suttie notes, “Through a series of analyses, Donohue and her colleagues looked at how frequently babies helped, what kinds of help they gave, and whether helping was affected by the age or sex of the baby.”

The results were fascinating: “over 80% of the youngest babies in the group (no more than 12 months old) offered to help the researchers by retrieving out-of-reach items and either handing them over or completing the task. This was true no matter the baby’s gender or cognitive and motor skills; and almost all helping occurred without any prompting – within the first 20 seconds of the task.”

The researchers found, over several rounds, that the babies were about evenly split between those who handed the ball or block to the researcher and those who finished the task for them, and tended to be consistent with the strategy they chose. The team found that the “baby girls had a slight preference for handing gate ball to the researcher, while baby boys had a preference for completing the task themselves.” The team were not able to determine whether that was instinctive or a result of socialization. Suttie quotes Donohue: “People think of socialization factors coming [into play] later on, but we know that those are starting right from the get-go. Babies are watching everything parents are doing, soaking everything up like a sponge.”

With the group of older infants, the percentage of those offering help did not change much, with only a slight increase. However, older babies were more likely to help on all of their rounds and help by completing the task themselves. Donohue suggests, “This may be due to older babies becoming more comfortable and confident in their abilities as they age.”

Commenting on the study’s findings, Donohue concludes, “Young kids have much more advanced and innate abilities to learn prosocial behaviours and kindness and empathy than scientists ever thought. If you’re a parent, you should feel free to encourage these behaviours in them. They’re wired for it, and parents can build upon them.”