Well before “not fair!” becomes a staple phrase of your child’s spoken repertoire, he or she might already have a fundamental grasp of right and wrong. A study published last October in PLoS One found that 15-month-old infants could identify unequal distributions of food and drink and that this sense of fairness was connected to their own willingness to share.

To measure these moral sentiments, researchers first had the children watch movies of an actor distributing food, either equally or unequally, between two people. Most of the toddlers spent more time looking at the unequal outcome, suggesting it surprised them by violating their basic sense of fair­ness. Next, every child picked his or her favorite of two new toys, and the researchers then asked the kids to share one of the toys. Of the infants who shared their favorite toy, 92 percent had also been surprised by the unfair outcome in the videos.

Scientists have typically thought that other-regarding preferences—which may have played an important role in the evolutionary history of human cooperation—emerge in early or mid-childhood, around the ages of seven or eight. This study suggests that they may develop as early as the second year of life and that those early moral judgments and behaviors are more closely intertwined than ever expected.

This article was published in print as "Baby Justice."

7 Comments

1. 1. BaldEgalitarian 09:46 AM 4/6/12

   Then our economic system indoctrinates us into getting all the market will bear.

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2. 2. gooner 09:46 AM 4/6/12

   Wow I didn't know that we could detect a republican at such an early age.

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3. 3. BaldEgalitarian 09:47 AM 4/6/12

   I wonder if triplets fight for two nipples?

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4. 4. Pazuzu 02:42 PM 4/9/12

   Ayn Randers, go cry in your beer -- we are a social species. BaldEgalitatian has it basically right: our anti-human socio/politico/economic system shapes selfishness. Obviously, we have a capacity for selfishness, and apparently some babies are born with a greater tendency toward being mean.

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5. 5. EcoTRob 03:03 PM 4/9/12

   How do the authors know that fairness is what the children were noticing? The difference between equal handouts and unequal handouts is one of complexity. Could the children just be noticing that something is different every time, thus taking more time to process? I think so, and I think Lloyd Morgan and Father William of Ockham would agree. Also, "of the infants who shared their favorite toy, 92 percent had also been surprised by the unfair outcome in the videos." Well, what percentage were surprised by the "unfair" outcome of the infants who did not share their toy? The article says that "most of the toddlers spent more time looking at the unequal outcome", which suggests a high percentage that is likely not significantly different from 92%.
   
   This article has convinced me that some infants share, and most take longer to process situations of greater complexity. Brilliant! I need a Guinness.
   

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6. 6. Raghuvanshi1 12:42 AM 4/10/12

   My personal experienced teach me that 15 month child know very much than we imagined.He know about incest sex. know about empathy.Know about father`s intention.He may unable to express all these intention but cleaver enough how to avoid these cultural customs.I think norms of culture child may learn by instinct,or they may inborn rooted in his psyche

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7. 7. karlt10 05:28 PM 4/10/12

   Sharing and a sense of what is 'right', all without the dogma and fairy tale of religion.

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