Two- and three-year-olds prefer mastery-oriented over outcome-oriented help

Abstract

It has been shown that school-aged children often turn to others for help with the motive to learn and expand on their knowledge or skills (so-called “mastery-oriented” help-seeking, Nelson-Le Gall, 1985). Although help-seeking in problem-solving contexts is increasingly studied in preschoolers, there is so far no experimental evidence that young children show a preference for mastery- as opposed to outcome-driven help. In two online experiments (N = 144, 72 female), 2- and 3-year-olds from diverse ethno-racial backgrounds living in the United States (68 % White; 16 % Latine) watched an agent failing at a task (e.g., pouring water into a cup) before they selected one of two helpers for the agent: one who demonstrated how to perform the task (mastery-oriented helper) or one who completed the task without demonstration (outcome-oriented helper). Children of both ages selected mastery-oriented helpers to assist the struggling agent (Experiments 1 and 2) but chose helpers randomly in a control condition in which the agent succeeded at the task and therefore needed no mastery-oriented help (Experiment 2). The findings indicate that young children recognize that furthering one’s abilities is a core motive of help-seeking.