Data Sheet 1_The effect of time pressure and ego depletion on young children’s helping behavior.zip

Based on the theory of limited cognitive resources and the dual-process theory, this study explores the mechanisms by which time pressure (an external factor) and ego depletion (an internal factor) affect helping behavior in children aged 4 to 6 years through two experiments. Experiment 1 (n = 153, M = 5.42 years, SD = 0.71) examined the impact of time pressure on children’s helping behavior, while Experiment 2 (n = 221, M = 5.41 years, SD = 0.76) investigated the role of ego depletion. The results revealed that both time pressure and ego depletion significantly inhibited children’s helping behavior, with notable age-related differences in these effects: the helping behavior of 4- and 5-year-old children was significantly reduced under conditions of time pressure and resource depletion, whereas 6-year-old children demonstrated greater resistance to these disruptions. These findings suggest that children’s helping behavior relies more on the cognitive processing of the deliberative system rather than the automatic responses of the intuitive system. Furthermore, as children grow older, they gradually develop more effective cognitive resource regulation abilities to counteract the negative effects of resource depletion.

本研究基于有限认知资源理论与双加工理论，通过两项实验探究了时间压力（外部因素）与自我损耗（内部因素）对4至6岁儿童助人行为的作用机制。实验1（n=153，平均年龄M=5.42岁，标准差SD=0.71）考察了时间压力对儿童助人行为的影响；实验2（n=221，平均年龄M=5.41岁，标准差SD=0.76）则探究了自我损耗的作用。研究结果显示，时间压力与自我损耗均会显著抑制儿童的助人行为，且该效应存在显著的年龄差异：4岁与5岁儿童在时间压力及资源损耗条件下的助人行为显著减少，而6岁儿童对这些干扰因素表现出更强的抵抗能力。上述结果表明，儿童的助人行为更多依赖于审慎系统的认知加工，而非直觉系统的自动化反应。此外，随着年龄增长，儿童会逐渐发展出更有效的认知资源调节能力，以抵消资源损耗带来的负面影响。