In Experiment 1, 54 preschoolers (mean age: 5 years 1 month) and 40 slightly older ones (mean age 5 years 11 months) were read a story in which an agent's actions were immoral, and the recipient of the action expressed disgust by gesture. Participants were then asked to explain how they would act if they were the agent. Prosocial answers were most frequently reported regardless of age, while antisocial coping behaviors were more frequently reported by younger rather than older children. In Experiment 2, 23 preschoolers (mean 5 years 3 months), and 22 slightly older ones (mean age 6 years) were read stories in which a recipient's disgust was expressed by the action of an agent. There were two kinds of stories: In one story, the agent elicited disgust from the recipient intentionally; in the other, disgust was elicited by accident. In both stories, the recipient's disgust was expressed verbally. Almost all answers for both situations were prosocial. Furthermore, there were no significant difference in responses between the younger and older participants. These findings suggest that children possess appropriate knowledge of an agent's strategy in coping with recipient's disgust.
