Do preschoolers always trust the majority? The influence of familiarity and expertise of a dissenter in a Chinese sample

Abstract

AbstractThis study investigated whether familiarity and expertise of a dissenter would lessen the trust of a three‐person majority among preschoolers in a Chinese sample. The results indicated that preschoolers preferred to trust a majority rather than a stranger dissenter. However, when familiarity and expertise of the dissenter were manipulated in the experiments, the majority was less endorsed by both age groups than the previous condition. Furthermore, the preference for the majority under conflicting conditions depended on age. Especially, five‐year‐olds trusted the expert more than the majority, and they trusted the majority more than the familiar person. However, three‐year‐olds did not show any significant preference. These results suggest that older preschoolers tend to value other factors rather than simply accepting the information shared among a majority. The study provided an enhanced understanding of the influences of a dissenter's expertise and familiarity in selective trust and extended the findings to Chinese preschoolers.