Kindness over Winning

Posted on September 14, 2018

At the toddler stage, children are still trying to figure out how to control and manage their emotions and behavior. It is also the phase when they start communicating with their peers and engage in arguments and disagreements.

In our current society, people might be categorized into different in social-economic statuses and treated based on where they stand in terms of power, knowledge and capabilities. Hence people tend to strive to be at the top, be the best to emerge as the winner. Many believe that being the ‘winner’ means being the best and receiving utmost respect and positive attention from others, and many other tangible benefits in the world.

Studies have proven that children as young as 2 years old, already learnt that the winner is the best and is most well-liked by everyone. However, this mentality is not ingrained in their minds forever as they still have a lot of time to learn and be exposed to different views and ideas. If one learns to always be fond of the winner regardless of how the win was obtained, they usually learn about it in the earlier part of their life without specific teachings. Hence as children gradually grow older, their perspectives might change, and they will learn about how life is not about winning, but how one wins. They will be taught various values that emphasize the importance of upholding good character.

Children’s fondness towards winners is balanced with other external concerns, including preferring kind and helpful people over aggressive people. Researchers are still furthering studying the specific areas children pay attention to, what type of situations and social circumstances would catch children’s attention to generate social influences that guide children to the right values and mind set.


Category(s):Child Development

Source material from Psychology Today