Younger Kids Don't Care What's Fair

If you’ve ever spent time with toddlers, sooner or later you’ll hear the word “Mine!” It’s usually followed by an adult saying, “Now, now, you have to learn to share.” But a study in the August 28th issue of Nature suggests we may be wasting our breath. Because kids in the preschool set have no interest in making sure everyone gets their fair share.

Scientists from Switzerland wondered if, and when, young children begin to consider the welfare of others. So they gathered up over 200 Swiss schoolchildren and a small mountain of candy. And one-by-one they gave each child a choice that goes something like this: I can give one M&M to you and one to one of the other kids. Or I can give one to you—and none to anyone else.

Children who were three or four years old didn’t much care whether or not their friends also got an M&M, or a jellybean or any other sweet. But that attitude changed by the time the kids were seven or eight, when almost 80 percent of them opted to be fair. Okay, that doesn’t exactly make them candidates for a Nobel Peace Prize. But maybe magnanimousness begins with an M…&M.

如果你和蹣跚學步的幼兒呆在一起，很快你就會聽到他們叫喊“這是我的！”往往這時候他們周圍的大人就會教導他們：“從現在開始，你必須學會分享。”但是發表在8月28日的《自然》(Nature)雜志上的一項研究表明，大人對幼兒的這種教導可能是白費口舌。這是因為學齡前兒童對公平沒有絲毫興趣。

來自瑞士的科學家想知道兒童是否以及何時開始關注別人的幸福。這些科學家召集了200多名兒童，同時還買了一大堆糖果。然后這些科學家給每個小孩一些如下選擇的機會：我給你一塊M&M（一種巧克力糖）糖果，也給其他的小朋友一塊。另外一個選擇就是我給你一塊糖果，但是不給其他小朋友。

研究發現3、4歲的孩子不是很在乎別的小朋友是否也得到一塊糖果、果凍或者其他任何的甜食。但是當孩子長到7、8歲的時候他們表現出不同的態度，80%的孩子選擇公平。當然了，這并不表明他們就可以作為諾貝爾和平獎的候選人。 不過寬容大度可能就始自于分享一塊糖果呢。

Vocabulary:
Toddler: 初學步的小孩
Welfare: 福利；好處
Jellybean: 豆型軟糖
Opt: 選擇
Magnanimousness: 寬宏；大度