Young Children Prefer Recipients Who Display Gratitude

We examined whether children respond positively to recipients’ gratitude displays. Four- and 5-year-olds watched gift beneficiaries displaying gratitude or no gratitude. Subsequently, 5-year-olds strongly preferred the grateful beneficiary, whereas the 4-year-olds were less robust in their preferences. Gratitude displays elicit affiliation from observers, and do so robustly by age 5.