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. 2017 Jul;88(4):1382-1397.
doi: 10.1111/cdev.12653. Epub 2016 Oct 31.

Helping the One You Hurt: Toddlers' Rudimentary Guilt, Shame, and Prosocial Behavior After Harming Another

Jesse D K Drummond  1 , Stuart I Hammond  2 , Emma Satlof-Bedrick  1 , Whitney E Waugh  1 , Celia A Brownell  1
Affiliations

Helping the One You Hurt: Toddlers' Rudimentary Guilt, Shame, and Prosocial Behavior After Harming Another

Jesse D K Drummond et al. Child Dev. 2017 Jul.

Abstract

This study explored the role of guilt and shame in early prosocial behavior by extending previous findings that guilt- and shame-like responses can be distinguished in toddlers and, for the first time, examining their associations with helping. Toddlers (n = 32; Mage = 28.9 months) were led to believe they broke an adult's toy, after which they exhibited either a guilt-like response that included frequently confessing their behavior and trying to repair the toy; or a shame-like response that included frequently avoiding the adult and seldom confessing or attempting to repair the toy. In subsequent prosocial tasks, children showing a guilt-like response helped an adult in emotional distress significantly faster and more frequently than did children showing a shame-like response.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mishap behavior (frequencies) by cue and avoidance group †p < .10; * p < .05
Figure 2
Figure 2
Helping score by avoidance group and helping task type Note: Height of bars represent the average helping score. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. * p < .05
Figure 3
Figure 3
Helping percentage by avoidance group and helping task type Note: Height of bars represent the percentage of children who helped on both trials of each helping type. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. * p < .05
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