With age, people increasingly emphasize intent when judging transgressions. However, people often lack information about intent in everyday settings; further, they may wonder about reasons underlying pro‐social acts. Three studies investigated 4‐to‐6‐year‐olds', 7‐to‐9‐year‐olds', and adults' (data collected 2020–2022 in the northeastern United States, total n = 669, ~50% female, predominantly White) desire for information about why behaviors occurred. In Study 1, older children and adults exhibited more curiosity about transgressions versus pro‐social behaviors (ds = 0.52–0.63). Younger children showed weaker preferences to learn about transgressions versus pro‐social behaviors than did older participants (d = 0.12). Older children's emphasis on intent, but not expectation violations, drove age‐related differences (Studies 2–3). Older children may target intent‐related judgments specifically toward transgressions, and doing so may underlie curiosity about wrongdoing.

中文翻译：

---

关于道德相关事件的信息寻求行为的年龄相关变化


随着年龄的增长，人们在评判违规行为时越来越强调意图。然而，人们在日常生活中往往缺乏有关意图的信息;此外，他们可能想知道亲社会行为背后的原因。三项研究调查了 4 至 6 岁、7 至 9 岁和成人（2020-2022 年在美国东北部收集的数据，总计 n = 669，~50% 女性，主要是白人）对有关行为发生原因的信息的渴望。在研究 1 中，与亲社会行为相比，年龄较大的儿童和成人对违规行为表现出更多的好奇心 （ds = 0.52–0.63）。与年长的参与者相比，年幼的孩子对了解违规行为的偏好比亲社会行为的偏好更弱 （d = 0.12）。年龄较大的儿童强调意图，而不是期望违背，这导致了与年龄相关的差异（研究 2-3）。年龄较大的孩子可能会专门针对违法行为的意图相关判断，这样做可能是对不法行为的好奇心的基础。