Young infants are pro‐victims, but it depends on the context

The current study examined whether and when young infants are sensitive to distressed others, using two experiments with a forced‐choice paradigm. Experiment 1 showed that 5‐ to 9‐month‐old infants demonstrate a clear pro‐victim preference: Infants preferred a distressed character that had been physically harmed over a matched neutral character. Experiment 2 showed that infants’ preference for a distressed other is not invariable, but rather...