The evolutionary success of our species is bound to our sociality—the tendency to engage in and benefit from social interactions. On a conceptual level, this sociality has been parsed into two facets, namely the proclivity to like and seek social interactions (social motivation) as well as the cognitive abilities needed to coordinate with others socially (social cognition).
While numerous studies have assessed social motivation and social cognition in young children, our current understanding of both facets is still far from conclusive. First, the exact ontogeny of social motivation and cognition remains largely unclear. Second, the degree to which either facet of sociality is shaped by cultural input remains poorly understood. Finally, interindividual variation in social motivation and cognition has yet to be examined, without which we can neither understand the construct validity of either facet, nor their potential interplay. In this dissertation, I present three studies addressing these issues by focusing on developmental, cross-cultural, and interindividual variation in three phenomena previously linked to sociality: Overimitation and collaboration as indicators of social motivation, as well as Theory of Mind as a proxy for social cognition.
In the first study I assessed whether children’s overimitation would be shaped by age, culture, and the social presence of an adult model. I found that children across three diverse populations showed more overimitation with age and selectively in the presence of the model. I also documented cross-cultural variation in children’s overimitation. On an individual level, children’s overimitation did not predict their tendency to reengage a co-player in a collaborative activity.
In study 2, I found children’s overimitation to vary systematically between two populations utilizing a procedure with reduced cognitive task demands. Here, age did not predict children’s overimitation and variation across populations was only observed in how much, but not whether, children would overimitate.
In study 3, I documented systematic variation in children’s social motivation for collaboration as well as their Theory of Mind across three populations and across the age range tested. On an individual level, indicators of social motivation were ontogenetically linked and predicted children’s Theory of Mind.
In the general discussion, I propose an integrative model of social motivation and cognition to embed and expand the current findings. Accordingly, the interplay of socialization goals and practices, social motivation, and social cognition builds the foundation for children’s social learning within social interactions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:71279 |
| Date | 29 June 2020 |
| Creators | Stengelin, Roman |
| Contributors | Universität Leipzig |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion, doc-type:doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000832, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104796 |
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