Young children's theories of mind about empathetic and selfish motives

Young children's prosocial behaviors may be motivated by empathy. Forty-one 36-66 month-old children were actively involved with a pipe cleaner figurine play scenario. One figurine appeared distressed at an alarm sound. The other figurines simultaneously terminated the alarm, expressing either empathic or selfish motives. Twenty-four participants (58.5%) correctly pointed at the empathic and selfish figurines, and correctly restated their motives. Of these, 50% (12) consistently predicted empathic or selfish figurines' motives and actions in 3 other situations. Linear regression analyses indicated children's theories of mind about others' selfish and empathic motives predicted preferences for snack sharing with the empathic figurine (R² = .690, p < .001) and empathically helping a friend in distress (R² = .702, p < .001).