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Moral stories reading with internal negative reinforcement enhance children's sharing behavior.

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Title: Moral stories reading with internal negative reinforcement enhance children's sharing behavior.
Authors: Yu, Haijun (AUTHOR), Gai, Xiaosong (AUTHOR), Chen, Xuan (AUTHOR), Xu, Jie (AUTHOR), Zhang, Peipei (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Moral Education. Jun2026, Vol. 55 Issue 2, p386-412. 27p.
Subjects: Guilt (Psychology), Prosocial behavior, Child development, Moral education, Reinforcement (Psychology)
Abstract: Reading moral stories is crucial for children's moral learning and development. The present study examined the effect of features of moral stories on children's sharing behavior. Experiment 1 which involved 153 4-year-old children and 169 6-year-old children, utilized a 2 × 2 design to examine the effect of story value of reinforcement (positive vs. negative) and source of reinforcement (internal vs. external) in stories on children's sharing behavior of 4-year-old and 6-year-old children. Our findings indicate a notable effect of internally driven negative reinforcement on sharing behaviors among 6-year-olds, particularly when the narrative prompted a feeling of guilt within the protagonist for not sharing. However, there was no significant difference in 4-year-olds. Experiment 2 considered the children's reflection on the consequences of their actions, involved 131 6-year-old children and compared three conditions (moral stories with internal negative reinforcement, moral dilemma stories, and controlling conditions). The results showed that children in internal negative reinforcement condition exhibited more sharing behavior. In contrast, no significant differences were found between moral dilemma stories and controlling conditions. These findings highlight that feeling guilt can promote prosocial behavior among 6-year-old children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Moral Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Moral stories reading with internal negative reinforcement enhance children's sharing behavior.
– Name: Author
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Yu%2C+Haijun%22">Yu, Haijun</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Gai%2C+Xiaosong%22">Gai, Xiaosong</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Chen%2C+Xuan%22">Chen, Xuan</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Xu%2C+Jie%22">Xu, Jie</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zhang%2C+Peipei%22">Zhang, Peipei</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Moral+Education%22">Journal of Moral Education</searchLink>. Jun2026, Vol. 55 Issue 2, p386-412. 27p.
– Name: Subject
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Guilt+%28Psychology%29%22">Guilt (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Prosocial+behavior%22">Prosocial behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Child+development%22">Child development</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Moral+education%22">Moral education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reinforcement+%28Psychology%29%22">Reinforcement (Psychology)</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Reading moral stories is crucial for children's moral learning and development. The present study examined the effect of features of moral stories on children's sharing behavior. Experiment 1 which involved 153 4-year-old children and 169 6-year-old children, utilized a 2 × 2 design to examine the effect of story value of reinforcement (positive vs. negative) and source of reinforcement (internal vs. external) in stories on children's sharing behavior of 4-year-old and 6-year-old children. Our findings indicate a notable effect of internally driven negative reinforcement on sharing behaviors among 6-year-olds, particularly when the narrative prompted a feeling of guilt within the protagonist for not sharing. However, there was no significant difference in 4-year-olds. Experiment 2 considered the children's reflection on the consequences of their actions, involved 131 6-year-old children and compared three conditions (moral stories with internal negative reinforcement, moral dilemma stories, and controlling conditions). The results showed that children in internal negative reinforcement condition exhibited more sharing behavior. In contrast, no significant differences were found between moral dilemma stories and controlling conditions. These findings highlight that feeling guilt can promote prosocial behavior among 6-year-old children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Moral Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/03057240.2024.2411960
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 27
        StartPage: 386
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Guilt (Psychology)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Prosocial behavior
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Child development
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Moral education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Reinforcement (Psychology)
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Moral stories reading with internal negative reinforcement enhance children's sharing behavior.
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            NameFull: Yu, Haijun
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            NameFull: Gai, Xiaosong
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            NameFull: Chen, Xuan
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            NameFull: Xu, Jie
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            NameFull: Zhang, Peipei
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            – D: 01
              M: 06
              Text: Jun2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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              Value: 55
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