The Development of Conformity Among Chinese Children Aged 9–15 Years in a Public Choice Task

Abstract

Both children and adults exhibit moderate conformity behaviors when facing group pressure. While some studies purport that children conform more with age, others have shown the opposite. The publicity of decision-making might be a major factor influencing the development of children’s conformity behavior. In this study, we recruited 295 Chinese children aged 9–15 years. We observed no significant correlation between children’s age and conformity behaviors when their answers were kept confidential. However, older children showed stronger conformity behaviors when their answers were made public. According to cultural evolutionary theory, with age, children find group acceptance and social recognition increasingly more important, which explains why older children are more likely to conform—namely, doing so has adaptive value. Further research should explore the cross-cultural coherence of this phenomenon and the genuine motivation behind children’s conformity behaviors. Meanwhile, designing a more reliable and valid experiment would also be a fruitful direction.