INVESTIGADORES
LOZADA Mariana
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Altruism plasticity in children: a case study in 6-7 year olds
Autor/es:
MARIANA LOZADA; PAOLA D´ADAMO; NATALIA CARRO
Lugar:
Cordoba
Reunión:
Congreso; . XXVII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2012
Institución organizadora:
Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencia
Resumen:
Human altruism is a
prosocial behaviour which emerges at early stages, develops throughout life and
is greatly affected by social contexts. The aim of this preliminary study was
to evaluate the plasticity of altruistic behavior in 6-7 year olds, analyzing
the effects of a short intervention performed in a public school in Bariloche,
Argentina. The research involved 41
participants in 10 weekly sessions. The intervention included mindfulness
practices, cooperative games and emotional security priming. The results showed
that altruism among peers significantly increased after the intervention in the
experimental group, whereas in the control group no change was observed. Interestingly, mindfulness practice
performance improved throughout the intervention period. Aggressive behaviour
was significantly lower in the experimental than in the control group, boys
being significantly more aggressive than girls in the latter group. This
research indicates that experiences of collaborating, feeling emotional
security and attaining moments of mindfulness favored the emergence of
intrinsic altruism beyond reputation and reciprocation. These results are in
line with our hypothesis that altruism is an embodied and situated human
capacity, highly susceptible to social influence.