Wissenschaftler fanden heraus, dass Kleinkinder glücklicher sind, wenn sie Leckereien mit jemand anderem teilen, als wenn sie selbst Leckereien erhalten. Dies ist ein Beweis dafür, dass die menschliche Zusammenarbeit durch eine natürliche emotionale Belohnung prosozialen Verhaltens angetrieben wird, das sich auf Handlungen bezieht, die darauf abzielen, anderen zu helfen.

A new study published in Developmental Science suggests that the act of giving to others is intrinsically rewarding for humans, even at a very young age. Scientists found that toddlers express more happiness when sharing treats with someone else than when receiving treats themselves. This provides evidence that human cooperation is driven by a natural emotional reward from prosocial behavior, which refers to actions intended to benefit others.

Across many different cultures, people routinely share their resources with friends and strangers. These generous acts often come at a personal cost, ranging from giving food to a neighbor to donating an organ. Scientists wanted to understand what motivates this type of deep cooperation.

The findings indicate that toddlers experience a measurable boost in mood when engaging in generous behavior. The children displayed significantly more happiness after giving a treat to the monkey than they did after receiving their own bowl of treats. This positive emotional response occurred whether the toddlers gave away their own treats or handed over a treat provided by the scientist.

The data also helps rule out the idea that the toddlers were just enjoying the process of following instructions. The children were consistently happier when instructed to give a treat to the monkey than when instructed to give a treat to themselves. Giving a treat to themselves produced no more happiness than receiving treats at the beginning of the game.

The researchers also found that taking an active role in sharing tends to be more rewarding than watching someone else be generous. The toddlers showed greater happiness when they personally handed a non-costly treat to the puppet compared to when they merely observed the scientist feeding the monkey. When combining both forms of giving, the children were significantly happier acting generously than simply watching.

Finally, the researchers noted that the toddlers’ joy did not simply mirror the puppet’s happy reactions. The statistical analysis showed that variations in the puppet’s displayed enthusiasm did not predict how happy the children were. This suggests the happiness was a direct result of performing a kind action, rather than emotional contagion.

For those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/desc.70171

Anecdotal, but the world would probably be a far different place if this basic instinct didn’t seem to get overwhelmed so much by selfishness as people age.

It would be interesting to see what circumstances lead to its obvious erosion in so many people as they age. Perhaps it’s because toddlers simply don’t think too much about the concept of „tomorrow“, meaning they also don’t care too much about the implications of giving away something you have extra of today and might need in the future. Scarcity and adversity can really change the way a person thinks.

That might be worth a study in itself.

Can someone show this research to the sociopathic wealth hoarders and their paid politicians

Ya know it’s probably juat as simple as these tiny humans are just pure and unmolested from the horrors of the world and corruption that happens to so many people from the hardships of life.

Toddlers *express* more happiness. As in create a social signal. There’s no purpose in social signals when one isn’t interacting with other people.

I’ve seen toddlers suffer minor injuries in silence, only to erupt in crying when they perceived someone else nearby. Because the purpose of crying is to send a signal to other people and elicit a response.