AUTHOR=Safra Lou , Tecu Teodora , Lambert Stéphane , Sheskin Mark , Baumard Nicolas , Chevallier Coralie 

TITLE=Neighborhood Deprivation Negatively Impacts Children’s Prosocial Behavior

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2016

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01760

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01760

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Children show stronger cooperative behavior in experimental settings as they get older, but little is known about how the environment of a child shapes this development. In adults, prosocial behavior towards strangers is markedly decreased in low SES neighborhoods, suggesting that environmental harshness has a negative impact on some prosocial behaviors. Similar results have been obtained with 9-year-olds recruited from low vs. high SES schools. In the current study, we investigate whether these findings generalize to a younger age group and a developing country. Specifically, we worked with a sample of 39 6- to 7-year-olds in two neighborhoods in a single city in Romania. Using a ‘Quality Dictator Game’ that offers greater resolution than previous measures, we find that children living in the harsher neighborhood behave less prosocially towards a stranger than children living in the less harsh neighborhood.