Abstract
This study examined the impact of correct inferences of others' feelings on preschool children's prosocial behavior. In Experiment 1,49 4-year olds and 46 5-year olds were divided into 3 groups and presented with one of 3 videotaped prosocial episodes. There were 2 cues to a character's sad feelings : the character's facial expression and the situation. In Episode 1 the cues were congruent (sad situation + sad face), but in Episode 2 (sad situation + smiling) and 3 (happy situation + sad face) the cues were incongruent. Children were asked how the character in the video felt, what they would do to the character, and children were also observed as to whether they shared their stickers with the character. When the cues were incongruent, correct infeiences were related to prosocial judgments. In Experiment 2, 4-yearolds (n=53) and 5-year olds (n=51) were divided into 2 groups and presented with Episode 3, either with or without an explanation of the character's feelings. Children were asked what they would do to the character and observed to see if they shared stickers. Prosocial judgments and behavior were significantly more frequent when there was an explanation. The results of this study suggest that under conditions when facial expression and the situation are incongruent, prosocial judgment and behavior require a specific social-cognitive skill : "affective reconciliation."
