A group from Osaka University, Kochi University of Technology, Kyushu University, and Oxford University revealed that babies have a judgment bias that "links ultra-natural and anti-intuitive abilities to social superiority."
It has been widely pointed out in various fields such as anthropology, sociology, and religion that the existence of supernatural powers has gained authority in many religious groups in human history.However, there was insufficient understanding of the developmental origins of what the human psychological foundations that lead to these tendencies are and how they are established.
In this study, we conducted behavioral experiments using the line of sight of 12 to 16-month-old infants registered as "Kyushu University Baby Researchers" to determine a judgment bias that links supernatural power and social superiority. I verified whether I could have it.Specifically, after presenting characters with / without supernatural abilities (floating in the air / teleportation) on the screen, the two compete and one of them wins the resource.
As a result, it was found that infants watch the outcome of "a character with supernatural abilities loses the game" longer than the opposite.This can be understood as the baby's expectation that "a character with supernatural abilities will win the game" and was surprised (looked longer) that that expectation was betrayed.In other words, it is suggested that infants may already have a tendency to understand certain "physical laws" and expect that "those with supernatural and anti-intuitive powers are socially superior." Was done.
It can be said that the results of this research contribute to the understanding of the origin of human sociality, including the superiority relationship, from developmental research.
Paper information:[Scientific Reports] Preverbal infants expect agents exhibiting counterintuitive capacities to gain access to contested resources
