Young children prefer to learn from and befriend strivers rather than endowed individuals

Abstract

Do children reason about the unequal means to success when making future learning decisions? Here we show that children preferred to learn from a striver than from an endowed informant. In Study 1 (N = 100, Mage = 7.58, 45 girls), children compared between a striver and an endowed informant who achieved the same outcome when making future learning decisions. In Study 2 (N = 120, Mage = 7.30, 65 girls), they compared between informants who achieved different outcomes when making future learning and interpersonal decisions. With increasing age, children attributed more competence and preferred to learn from the striver over the endowed informant (Study 1). Children’s preference to learn from the striver was replicated in Study 2 even when the informants’ outcomes differed in success, with this pattern extending to their preference from whom to seek future information and their interpersonal choices. Moreover, children referenced both epistemic cues (e.g., “she knows more”) and effort (e.g., “because she worked hard”) to explain their choices. Taken together, children assign epistemic value to effort, and view effort as an indicator of future informant reliability. Broadly, our findings demonstrate that children’s learning and interpersonal preferences are not solely based on successful outcomes, but also the process through which that success is attained. Across two studies, 5- to 9-year-old children selected between a striver and an endowed informant when making epistemic and social decisions. This study found that children preferred the striver as a source of information and social partner even when both individuals differed in their outcomes of success.