The “Batman Effect”: Improving Perseverance in Young Children

Rachel E. White; Emily O. Prager; Catherine Schaefer; Ethan Kross; Angela L. Duckworth; Stephanie M. Carlson

doi:10.1111/cdev.12695

The “Batman Effect”: Improving Perseverance in Young Children

Rachel E. White, Emily O. Prager, Catherine Schaefer, Ethan Kross, Angela L. Duckworth, Stephanie M. Carlson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

96 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study investigated the benefits of self-distancing (i.e., taking an outsider's view of one's own situation) on young children's perseverance. Four- and 6-year-old children (N = 180) were asked to complete a repetitive task for 10 min while having the option to take breaks by playing an extremely attractive video game. Six-year-olds persevered longer than 4-year-olds. Nonetheless, across both ages, children who impersonated an exemplar other—in this case a character, such as Batman—spent the most time working, followed by children who took a third-person perspective on the self, or finally, a first-person perspective. Alternative explanations, implications, and future research directions are discussed.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1563-1571
Number of pages	9
Journal	Child development
Volume	88
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12695
State	Published - Sep 1 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Publisher link

10.1111/cdev.12695

Find It

Find It at U of M Libraries

Cite this

@article{015b1fabb9314f77aeb6a05f3be27e43,

title = "The “Batman Effect”: Improving Perseverance in Young Children",

abstract = "This study investigated the benefits of self-distancing (i.e., taking an outsider's view of one's own situation) on young children's perseverance. Four- and 6-year-old children (N = 180) were asked to complete a repetitive task for 10 min while having the option to take breaks by playing an extremely attractive video game. Six-year-olds persevered longer than 4-year-olds. Nonetheless, across both ages, children who impersonated an exemplar other—in this case a character, such as Batman—spent the most time working, followed by children who took a third-person perspective on the self, or finally, a first-person perspective. Alternative explanations, implications, and future research directions are discussed.",

author = "White, {Rachel E.} and Prager, {Emily O.} and Catherine Schaefer and Ethan Kross and Duckworth, {Angela L.} and Carlson, {Stephanie M.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 The Authors. Child Development {\textcopyright} 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.",

year = "2017",

month = sep,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1111/cdev.12695",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "88",

pages = "1563--1571",

journal = "Child development",

issn = "0009-3920",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",

number = "5",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The “Batman Effect”

T2 - Improving Perseverance in Young Children

AU - White, Rachel E.

AU - Prager, Emily O.

AU - Schaefer, Catherine

AU - Kross, Ethan

AU - Duckworth, Angela L.

AU - Carlson, Stephanie M.

PY - 2017/9/1

Y1 - 2017/9/1

N2 - This study investigated the benefits of self-distancing (i.e., taking an outsider's view of one's own situation) on young children's perseverance. Four- and 6-year-old children (N = 180) were asked to complete a repetitive task for 10 min while having the option to take breaks by playing an extremely attractive video game. Six-year-olds persevered longer than 4-year-olds. Nonetheless, across both ages, children who impersonated an exemplar other—in this case a character, such as Batman—spent the most time working, followed by children who took a third-person perspective on the self, or finally, a first-person perspective. Alternative explanations, implications, and future research directions are discussed.

AB - This study investigated the benefits of self-distancing (i.e., taking an outsider's view of one's own situation) on young children's perseverance. Four- and 6-year-old children (N = 180) were asked to complete a repetitive task for 10 min while having the option to take breaks by playing an extremely attractive video game. Six-year-olds persevered longer than 4-year-olds. Nonetheless, across both ages, children who impersonated an exemplar other—in this case a character, such as Batman—spent the most time working, followed by children who took a third-person perspective on the self, or finally, a first-person perspective. Alternative explanations, implications, and future research directions are discussed.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85007017841&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85007017841&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/cdev.12695

DO - 10.1111/cdev.12695

M3 - Article

C2 - 27982409

AN - SCOPUS:85007017841

SN - 0009-3920

VL - 88

SP - 1563

EP - 1571

JO - Child development

JF - Child development

IS - 5

ER -

The “Batman Effect”: Improving Perseverance in Young Children

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Publisher link

Find It

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this