Children punish third parties to satisfy both consequentialist and retributive motives

Adults punish moral transgressions to satisfy both retributive motives (such as wanting antisocial others to receive their 'just deserts') and consequentialist motives (such as teaching transgressors that their behaviour is inappropriate). Here, we investigated whether retributive and consequentialist motives for punishment are present in children approximately between the ages of five and seven. In two preregistered studies (N = 251), children were given the opportunity to punish a transgressor at a cost to themselves. Punishment either exclusively satisfied retributive motives by only inflicting harm on the transgressor, or additionally satisfied consequentialist motives by teaching the transgressor a lesson. We found that children punished when doing so satisfied only retributive motives, and punished considerably more when doing so also satisfied consequentialist motives. Together, these findings provide evidence for the presence of both retributive and consequentialist motives in young children. Individuals are willing to punish antisocial others even at a personal cost. Marshall et al. examine the motivational basis of this behaviour from a developmental standpoint, showing that children-like adults-punish others for both retributive and consequentialist reasons.

Automated summary

The study found that children punish transgressors for both retributive and consequentialist reasons, showing that they have complex psychological motivations in moral situations similar to adults.