Although studies have shown that preschoolers can think pro-environmentally, whether they can act pro-environmentally, especially at a personal cost, remains unexplored. We directly investigated how 4–6-year-old preschoolers reacted to pro-environmental and anti-environmental behaviors within their sphere of influence. In two studies (N = 211), children were presented with vignettes that showed both pro-environmental and anti-environmental actions and completed three tasks: distributed stickers (reward) to the protagonists shown in the vignettes in Task I and distributed non-costly or costly unpleasant items (punishment) to the protagonists in Tasks II and III, respectively. Results showed that older children rewarded pro-environmental actions more than younger children did, while 4–6-year-olds consistently punished anti-environmental actions. Moreover, 6-year-olds (but not younger children) systematically reasoned and insisted on punishment, even at a personal sacrifice. Together, preschoolers can act pro-environmentally, suggesting that beginning early in their development, they show a behavioral capacity and willingness to encourage pro-environmental behavior.

尽管研究表明，学龄前儿童可以以亲环境的方式思考，但他们是否可以采取亲环境的行动，尤其是在个人成本的情况下，仍有待探索。我们直接调查了 4-6 岁学龄前儿童在其影响范围内对亲环境和反环境行为的反应。在两项研究中（N = 211），孩子们被展示了展示亲环境和反环境行为的小插曲，并完成了三项任务：向任务 I 小插曲中显示的主角分发贴纸（奖励），并分发非昂贵或昂贵的不愉快物品（惩罚）分别给任务 II 和 III 中的主角。结果表明，年龄较大的儿童比年幼的儿童对环保行为的奖励更多，而 4-6 岁的儿童则一直在惩罚反环境行为。此外，6岁的孩子（但不是年幼的孩子）系统地推理并坚持惩罚，即使是个人牺牲。总之，学龄前儿童可以采取有利于环境的行为，这表明在他们发展的早期开始，他们就表现出鼓励环保行为的行为能力和意愿。