AUTHOR=Chen Chang , Zha Zihan , He Ru , Zhou Ying , Zhang Wenjie 

TITLE=Do Chinese preschoolers follow adults’ suggestions? The impact of suggestion fairness and advisor familiarity on preschoolers’ sharing behavior

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1676175

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1676175

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=IntroductionWhile preschoolers’ sharing behavior is an important indicator of social development, it remains unclear how adult suggestions influence their sharing decisions.MethodsThis study investigated how suggestion fairness (fair/unfair) and advisor familiarity (familiar/unfamiliar) affect preschoolers’ sharing behavior and its relationship with emotional experiences. Two experiments were conducted with 187 preschoolers aged 3-6 years (Experiment 1: n = 124, M = 4.54 years, SD = 1.02; Experiment 2: n = 63, M = 5.50 years, SD = 0.28) using a dictator game paradigm.ResultsResults revealed that despite having a more mature understanding of fairness, 5-6-year-olds were more susceptible to adult suggestions compared to 3-4-year-olds. Older preschoolers were more likely to follow suggestions from familiar advisors while showing less compliance with unfamiliar advisors’ suggestions. Additionally, 5-6-year-olds demonstrated greater consistency between fairness judgments and actual sharing behavior, whereas 3-4-year-olds showed a larger cognition-behavior gap. Notably, children who shared more than they deemed fair (“over-sharing”) reported experiencing more positive emotions.DiscussionThis study found that both suggestion fairness and advisor familiarity significantly influence preschoolers’ sharing decisions, with age-specific patterns in suggestion compliance and emotional experiences.