Co-Investigators Dr. Tamar Kushnir, Dr. Pearl Han Li, and Dr. Laura Soter, along with collaborator Dr. Alice Zhao and support from consultants with expertise in philosophy and evolutionary anthropology will investigate intellectual humility (IH) as an emerging value in children ages 4 to 8 in two cultures. Our project rests on a claim that, as a precursor to explicit expressions of one's own humility, young children recognize and place value on expressions of humility in others.
We use new experimental methods to explore how US and Chinese children evaluate people who display two essential qualities of IH: openness to belief revision in response to good evidence (Studies 1 and 2) and openness to acknowledging one's intellectual limits (Studies 3 and 4). We include in our studies two core domains of belief - scientific beliefs about the natural world, and moral beliefs about the social world. Furthermore, in addition to looking for cultural similarities and differences, we look for evidence of social transmission of IH values by exploring whether parental values correlate with individual children's judgments across both cultural contexts.
The scientific investigation of the developmental of IH is still in early stages, and the foundations of IH in early childhood are not well understood. Our project is needed to fill this important gap. Our studies utilize pilot tested methods that work, and are designed to yield high-impact results in a short time frame. In addition to contribution through scientific publications and presentations, we will write and disseminate short, user-friendly pieces intended for a general audience, and provide interdisciplinary training opportunities to emerging scholars. Our interdisciplinary research team brings together experts in developmental and cultural psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, and evolutionary anthropology.
