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| "Hearsay" or "Seeing is Believing"? The Effect of Valence and Accuracy in Preschooler's Evaluation to Spreading of Gossip |
| TANG Yu-long ZHANG Zhi-nuo MIAO Xiao-long |
| Institute of Applied Psychology, College of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China |
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Abstract The purpose of study was to examine the preschoolers’ social preference and behavior evaluation when they are faced with difference valence gossip and later find that the truth of the gossip conflicted with valence. We predicted that preschoolers would evaluate the individual who provided relatively positive gossip better. The results revealed that preschoolers’ evaluation of gossip was influenced by its valence and accuracy. 5- and 6-year-olds’ explicit evaluations would be affected by valence of gossip, that is –they were more willing to be friends with the purveyor who provided positive gossip, and judged their behaviors positively before they knew the truth of gossip. However, when they knew the accuracy of the gossip and found the valence of gossip conflicted with the accuracy of gossip -- positive gossip content was wrong, negative gossip content was correct, in the two evaluation tasks, 5- to 6-year-olds’ selections of the positive gossiper were declined in different degrees, and there were no age differences. Children were more likely to be friends with the purveyor who provided negative but accurate gossip, but still judged that the behavior of the purveyor who provided positive but wrong gossip was better. The above results indicated that 5- and 6-year-olds’ took both the valence and accuracy of gossip into their social evaluation criteria.
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Published: 31 December 2022
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