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How “peer-fear” of others' evaluations can regulate young children's cooperation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2023

Robert Hepach Open the ORCID record for Robert Hepach [Opens in a new window]  and
Stella Claire Gerdemann
Robert Hepach
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK robert.hepach@psy.ox.ac.uk; https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/people/robert-hepach
Stella Claire Gerdemann
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK robert.hepach@psy.ox.ac.uk; https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/people/robert-hepach Department of Early Child Development, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany stella.gerdemann@uni-leipzig.de; https://www.lfe.uni-leipzig.de/en/employee/stella-gerdemann-2/
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Abstract

Children's cooperation with peers undergoes substantial developmental changes between 3 and 10 years of age. Here we stipulate that young children's initial fearfulness of peers' behaviour develops into older children's fearfulness of peers' evaluations of their own behaviour. Cooperation may constitute an adaptive environment in which the expressions of fear and self-conscious emotions regulate the quality of children's peer relationships.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 46 , 2023 , e64
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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