学进去

Babies will naturally share food with hungry strangers, even when they’re hungry themselves, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports.

In the study, the researchers first did an experiment on 19-month-olds. The time was about 75 minutes after their last snack or meal. In the experiment, an unfamiliar adult reached for pieces of fresh fruit that had been placed on a dish in front of a child, and the child could choose to either share the fruit with the adult or keep the fruit and eat it himself/herself. Almost 60% of the children shared at least one piece of fruit with the adult.

In a follow-up experiment, the researchers had the children’s parents bring them in just before their next scheduled snack or meal, so on average, it had been more than 130 minutes since they last ate. The researchers wanted to know whether these children, who were hungry themselves, would still share food with someone in need.

The results showed that almost 40% of the children were willing to share at least one piece of fruit with the adult who reached for the food. Some other experiment results also showed that children as young as one year old liked to help others in need, even when they themselves wanted to get something.