2025 Articles

Age-Related Changes in Information-Seeking Behavior about Morally Relevant Events

Yonas, Daniel; Solomon, Larisa Heiphetz

With age, people increasingly emphasize intent when judging transgressions. However,
people often lack information about intent in everyday settings; further, they may wonder about
reasons underlying pro-social acts. Three studies investigated 4-to-6-year-olds', 7-to-9-year-olds',
and adults' (data collected 2020-2022 in the northeastern United States, total n=669, ~50%
female, predominantly White) desire for information about why behaviors occurred. In Study 1,
older children and adults exhibited more curiosity about transgressions versus pro-social
behaviors (ds=.52-.63). Younger children showed weaker preferences to learn about
transgressions, versus pro-social behaviors, than did older participants (d=.12). Older children's
emphasis on intent, but not expectation violations, drove age-related differences (Studies 2-3).
Older children may target intent-related judgments specifically toward transgressions, and doing
so may underlie curiosity about wrongdoing.