The impact of moral stories on preschool children’s sharing behavior

The study aimed to investigate the effects of reading stories with anthropomorphism and moral stories on preschool children’s sharing behavior. An experimental control design was used, and sharing behavior was measured using a resource allocation paradigm. Additionally, observation learning questionnaires and scales measuring tendencies towards anthropomorphism were utilized to examine the underlying learning mechanisms and individual differences. The results showed that: (1) compared to the group that read stories with anthropomorphism and the control group, children in the group that read moral stories demonstrated significantly higher sharing scores after reading these stories; (2) the motivation to imitate the characters in the stories played a partial mediating role between the reading of moral stories and sharing behavior; (3) compared to children with low tendencies towards anthropomorphism, children with high tendencies towards anthropomorphism showed greater willingness to share after reading moral stories with anthropomorphism…