Impact of Type of Storybook Character on Children's Costly Sharing Behavior

Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine the impact of reading storybooks and the presence of different characters such as humans, animals, and fantasy characters in storybooks on children's costly sharing behaviour. A total of 235 children participated in the study. The children were presented with 20 stickers and were asked to choose their 10 favourites. They were then instructed to share as many stickers as they wanted from their chosen 10. The children randomly assigned to following storybook conditions: human, anthropomorphic (animal-like), fantasy characters and a neutral storybook group. After reading the stories, the costly sharing procedure was repeated. As a result, increase in sharing rates from pre-test to post-test, it was determined that the highest increase occurred in children who listened to a storybook with human characters. The increase in costly sharing behaviour of children who listened to the storybook with human characters was significantly higher than the change in the costly sharing behaviour of children who listened to anthropomorphic and neutral storybooks. The increase in sharing behaviour of children who listened to fantasy character storybooks was significantly higher than that of children who listened to neutral storybooks. No other differences were observed among the groups.