The punishment behavior of children is influenced by the political ideology of their parents. Children of conservative parents differentiate between their own and others in punishment. They are more willing to punish children of another group for mistakes.
On the other hand, parents of liberal ideology punish their children and any other group equally for mistakes. At times, they can be too harsh on their group member for fault.
Children see the fault of other children from the beginning
New York University scholar Rachel A. Resin has attempted to understand the relationship between political ideology and punishment behavior among children. It has been said in the study that from the beginning, children are ready to punish other children for their mistakes, even if it does not affect them. They are ready to pay any price for this.
This behavior is also seen in adults
This behavior is found in different cultures around the world. This nature is seen not only in children but also in adults. Leshin says it is interesting how children pick up values and beliefs from the social environment around them. This type of punishment shows a desire to express displeasure towards the wrongdoer and to punish him.
Conservatives are associated with greater loyalty and hostility to other groups. On the other hand, in liberal ideology, priority is given to fairness over loyalty. Instead of harsh punishment, attention is given to reformative punishment.
Half the children decided to punish for a mistake
Did two experiments on children up to 8 years old. First, children were taken from the museum in New York. In the second, children were selected from a database across the United States. Half the children decided to punish for the mistake and the same number of children decided not to punish.
