Growing decision-making: the role of theory of mind, empathy, and personality traits in school-age children

TL;DR

This study explores how children's ability to understand others' thoughts and feelings, along with personality traits, influences their decision-making in fairness, altruism, and delaying gratification.

Contribution

The study identifies distinct psychological mechanisms underlying different aspects of children's decision-making, particularly fairness and altruism.

Findings

Fairness decisions are predicted by Theory of Mind and situational empathy.

Altruism is specifically linked to affective empathy.

Delay of gratification is associated with the personality trait of Openness to Experience.

Abstract

Children’s decision-making is a socio-cognitive skill embedded within a broader system that promotes understanding of others and effective management of interpersonal contexts, making it closely linked to Theory of Mind (ToM) and empathy. The present study examined how these abilities, together with personality traits and cognitive skills, relate to decision-making in middle childhood, specifically regarding fairness, altruism, and delay of gratification. A sample of 94 children aged 6–10 years completed tasks assessing fairness (Ultimatum Game), altruism (Dictator Game), and delay of gratification (Marshmallow Task), together with measures of ToM, empathy, personality traits, and cognitive ability. Results revealed that fairness was predicted by ToM and situational empathy, suggesting that acting fairly involves integrating mental-state reasoning with context-dependent emotional responsiveness. Altruism, in contrast, was specifically associated with affective empathy, indicating that children’s tendency to help others is primarily driven by their emotional sensitivity. Delay of gratification was unrelated to ToM or empathy. Instead, it was predicted by the personality trait of Openness to Experience, reflecting the role of trait-like motivational tendencies in delay of gratification. Age and general cognitive ability did not predict any of the decision-making outcomes. Path analyses confirmed that fairness and altruism are driven by social-cognitive mechanisms, whereas delay of gratification depends primarily on individual dispositions rather than interpersonal processing. These findings clarify the specific contributions of ToM, empathy, and personality to children’s decision-making and carry important implications for developmental and educational practices.

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