Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2018From a young age, humans frequently and spontaneously choose to help, comfort, and share with others (Dunfield, Kuhlmeier, O’Connell, & Kelley, 2011; Paulus & Moore, 2012). Critically, these prosocial behaviors are not only beneficial to the recipients of these acts; those who perform good deeds also reap benefits, such that they experience positive emotions as a result of their generosity. While this phenomenon has been well established in adult populations (Aknin, Fleerackers, & Hamlin, 2014; Aknin, Mayrz, & Helliwell, 2017; Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008; Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2014; Field, Hernandez-Reif, Quintino, Schanberg, & Kuhn, 1998; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schekade, 2005), few studies investigate the emotional benefits of giving from a developmental perspective. Thus, the current work investigates 5-year-olds’ experiences of and beliefs about the emotional benefits of giving in order to begin understanding how emotional reward may function as a potential motivation of prosocial behavior in childhood. First, the current work conceptually replicates the finding that children (Aknin, Hamlin, & Dunn, 2012), like adults (Dunn et al., 2008), express more happiness after giving resources to others than after receiving resources for themselves (Chapter 2). Next, this work demonstrates that children’s happiness from giving to others is rooted in their ability to witness the positive impact that they were responsible for providing to a beneficiary (Chapter 3). Finally, this work shows that, although 5-year-old children accurately believe people experience the most happiness when they can witness the positive impact they have provided to a beneficiary, they believe that people are relatively happier after receiving resources than after giving resources (Chapter 4). Together, these findings support the hypothesis that children’s prosocial behavior is reinforced and perhaps promoted by the positive emotions they experience when they are responsible for a generous action that they see was beneficial to someone else (Aknin, Van de Vondervoort, & Hamlin, 2018). Although children at this age are somewhat aware of the emotional benefits of giving, their belief that receiving is even more rewarding may ultimately undermine their motivation to give. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed along with suggestions for critical future research
