Influences on children's sharing in a multicultural setting

The authors examined contributors to sharing in Western and Asian children in relation to hypotheses derived from the cross-cultural framework. Parenting practices emphasizing training and awareness of others, and children's moral reasoning were associated with larger donations. Asian girls shared more when their donations were identified rather than anonymous and shared more than Asian boys. Western boys and girls shared equally in all conditions. Moral reasoning was associated with donation, consistent with previous findings. Parenting practices and moral reasoning predicted 15% of the variance in anonymous donation. The findings suggest an integration of developmental and cultural influences on sharing in elementary school children.