We tested when U.S. children reject bribery, and whether their rejections vary by public versus private setting. Six- to 10-year-olds (224 children, 118 boys, 106 girls, majority-White) participated across four experiments, in which participants indicated whether a contest judge should accept a contestant's financial gift. Children conveyed their preferences while in public or in private (in the presence or absence of an adult experimenter). Children's rejections of bribes were found to increase with age. Notably, younger children's acceptance rate was higher when the experimenter was present than in their absence; in contrast, older children showed comparable rejection rates across settings. Limitations in children's early reasoning about bribery, including the reputational and moral implications of accepting bribes in public, are discussed.

中文翻译：

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油脂（小）手掌：早期拒绝贿赂

我们测试了美国儿童何时拒绝贿赂，以及他们的拒绝是否因公共环境和私人环境而异。6 至 10 岁的儿童（224 名儿童、118 名男孩、106 名女孩，多数为白人）参加了四项实验，参与者在其中指出比赛评委是否应该接受参赛者的经济礼物。儿童在公共场合或私下（在成人实验者在场或不在场的情况下）表达了他们的偏好。发现儿童拒绝贿赂的次数随着年龄的增长而增加。值得注意的是，当实验者在场时，年幼儿童的接受率高于他们不在场时；相比之下，年龄较大的儿童在不同环境中表现出可比的拒绝率。儿童早期对贿赂推理的局限性，包括在公共场合接受贿赂的名誉和道德影响，