Parenting Journal · Volume 2 · Issue 1 · Licensed source edition
The Development of Generosity From 4 to 6 Years: Examining Stability and the Biopsychosocial Contributions of Children’s Vagal Flexibility and Mothers’ Compassion
Originally published 2020-11-05 · Frontiers in Psychology
Frontiers Media SA · DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.590384 ↗
Editorial reading guide · Kindness
When does my child offer something voluntarily, and how do I respond?
The authors examine changes in a child’s generosity across two ages and the caregiving setting.
Who was studied?
Children followed across early childhood with measures of donation behavior and mothers’ compassion
Age / stage: 4–6 years
Read with three questions
- How did the authors investigate changes in a child’s generosity across two ages and the caregiving setting?
- Was the proposed family influence measured before the outcome, and who remained at follow-up?
- What did a donation in the study cost the child, and did children face the same task at ages four and six?
Keep the limits in view
Donation behavior in a particular task captures one form of generosity and may depend on how the task and rewards were presented.
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Original authorship, publication date, journal and DOI are preserved. This issue’s TRICK placement and reading questions are editorial additions, not claims made by the original authors.
Jonas G Miller; Sarah Kahle; Natalie R Troxel; Paul D Hastings (2020). The Development of Generosity From 4 to 6 Years: Examining Stability and the Biopsychosocial Contributions of Children’s Vagal Flexibility and Mothers’ Compassion Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.590384
Permissions checked against the saved article notice; repository publication notices screened 2026-11-04. This is not a new peer-review decision. The source authors and publishers are not represented as endorsing this issue.