The behavioral effects of cooperative and competitive board games in preschoolers

Abstract

Traditional board games are a common social activity for many children, but little is known about the behavioral effects of this type of game. The current study aims to explore the behavioral effects of cooperative and competitive board games in four-to-six-year-old children (N = 65). Repeatedly during 6 weeks, children in groups of four played either cooperative or competitive board games in a between-subject design, and shortly after each game conducted a task in which children’s cooperative, prosocial, competitive, and antisocial behavior were observed. The type of board game did not have an effect on cooperative, prosocial or antisocial behavior. Cooperative and competitive board games elicited equal amounts of cooperative and prosocial behavior, which suggest that board games, regardless of type, could have positive effects on preschoolers’ social behavior. Our results suggest that children may compete more after playing competitive board games; but the measure of competitive behavior in particular was unreliable. Preschoolers enjoyed playing cooperative board games more than competitive board games, which may be one reason to prefer their use.