“The Development of Cynicism”, 2005 (; similar):
Two experiments explored the development of cynicism by examining how children evaluate other people who make claims consistent or inconsistent with their self-interests.
In Experiment 1, kindergartners, second graders, and fourth graders heard stories with ambiguous conclusions in which characters made statements that were aligned either with or against self-interest.
Older children took into account the self-interests of characters in determining how much to believe them: They discounted statements aligned with self-interest, whereas they accepted statements going against self-interest.
Experiment 2 examined children’s endorsement of 3 different explanations for potentially self-interested statements: lies, biases, and mistakes.
Like adults, sixth graders endorsed lies and bias as plausible explanations for wrong statements aligned with self-interest; younger children did not endorse bias.
Implications for the development of cynicism and children’s understanding of bias are discussed.