Examining the social influence of reputation for partner productivity level on the collaborative task performance of young children

Abstract

AbstractHumans adjust behaviour in the presence of others in a phenomenon called social influence, which can be categorized into social facilitation (promotional effects) and social loafing (inhibitory effects). The study examined whether the productivity level of the partner in individual and collaborative tasks produced a social influence on children's task performance. The participants were aged 4‐ to 6‐years‐old and grouped as high‐productivity, low‐productivity, and control according to the productivity level of the partners. Experiments 1 and 2 assigned adults and young peers as partners, respectively. Children's performance in the collaborative task decreased compared with the individual task. This effect was unobserved when the adult partner was highly productive but occurred regardless of productivity level when the partner was a peer. Positive correlations were also observed between children's and partners' performance in both experiments. The results thus suggested that young children adjust their behaviour based on the partner's actions.Highlights The social influence of partner's productivity level on young children's task performance was examined during a collaborative task. Children performed individual and collaborative tasks with an adult (Experiment 1) or child partner (Experiment 2). Positive correlations were observed between children's and partners' performance in both experiments.