Power Acquisition and Exercise in Selective Trust: Responses of Chinese Children Aged 3 to 6 to Physical Supremacy and Decisional Control

With increasing age, children’s trust in dominants shifted from those with physical supremacy to those with decisional control; however, this shift depended on the stage of power (acquisition versus exercise). Notably, when power was exercised benevolently, children showed similar levels of trust in dominants regardless of whether they exhibited physical supremacy or decisional control. In contrast, when power was exercised malevolently, children trusted dominants who manifested power via decisional control significantly more than those who manifested it through physical supremacy.

These findings underscore the complex role of power dynamics in shaping children’s selective trust. They also provide age-specific guidance to support development of educational interventions to foster children’s rational evaluation of power holders and promote healthy social adaptation.