The Effects of Teacher Rewards and Their Types on Preschool Children’s Selective Trust

TL;DR

Preschoolers show selective trust in teachers based on the type of rewards given, with a stronger preference for material rewards.

Contribution

The study reveals preschoolers' sensitivity to material rewards in assessing teacher trustworthiness.

Findings

Preschoolers prefer teachers who offer rewards over those who do not.

Junior-class children showed the highest level of selective trust.

Senior-class girls preferred material rewards more than boys or middle-class girls.

Abstract

Children acquire much of their knowledge through trusting others’ testimony, particularly that of teachers. They not only tend to trust their teachers but also imitate behaviors that teachers reward. However, it remains unclear if they show selective trust in those who provide such rewards. This study, therefore, examined how teachers’ rewards to other children and the types of these rewards influence the selective trust of preschoolers. In Study 1, 162 preschoolers from junior, middle, and senior classes watched videos of a teacher giving verbal and material rewards, while another provided neutral feedback. Then, children chose which teacher to trust in a novel object-naming task. The results showed that all preschoolers preferred to trust teachers who offered rewards compared to those who did not. Moreover, junior-class children displayed the highest level of selective trust among the preschoolers. In Study 2, 176 preschoolers judged which teacher to trust, one offering material rewards and the other verbal praise. The results showed senior-class girls preferred teachers with material rewards more than senior-class boys and middle-class girls. These findings indicate that preschoolers can assess teachers’ trustworthiness based on rewards and are more sensitive to material rewards than to verbal praise when accepting information from teachers.

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