De rol van de relatie tussen kinderen op het deelgedrag van jonge kinderen en de invloed van sekse en leeftijd.

Abstract

Aim: Current research focused on young children’s sharing behavior, as an aspect of prosocial-behavior. The influence of the relationship between sharer and recipient and child characteristics such as age and sex on sharing of food was examined. Method: The sample consisted of 91 children, whose age ranged between 34 and 78 months (M=58.54; SD=11.53). The sample included 48 boys (52.0%) and 43 girls (48.0%). The children were examined twice by means of observations of a snack moment in which an unequally distributed amount of snacks was eaten in pairs. Results: There is no significant main effect of relationship on the number of sharing actions and the number of pieces shared. No significant interaction effects were found between the child characteristics and the relationship between sharer and receiver on sharing behavior. A significant, positive trend was found between the number of shared pieces and gender. Boys share more pieces with friends and girls more with acquaintances. The main effect of age on the number of sharing actions turned out to be significant. Older children shared significantly more often than younger children. This trend was also found for the number of pieces shared. No significant main effects for gender were found. Conclusion: The relationship between sharer and receiver does not seem to effect the sharing behavior. There is a gender difference, with boys sharing more pieces with friends and girls more with acquaintances. In addition, older children share more often than younger children. Recent literature and research results are limited and show the importance of more research.