Children learn moral lessons more effectively from stories with human characters than with "cute" human-like animals. Victor Besa for The National
Children learn moral lessons more effectively from stories with human characters than with "cute" human-like animals. Victor Besa for The National

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Stories with human characters influence children more

The study found that four to six-year-olds shared more after listening to books with human characters than books with anthropomorphic (human-like) animals

IANS

August 21, 2017

Children learn moral lessons more effectively from stories with human characters than with "cute" human-like animals, a new study has revealed.

The study, carried out by researchers at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, found that four to six-year-olds shared more after listening to books with human characters than books with anthropomorphic (human-like) animals.

The researchers found that since many kids in this study did not see these characters as similar to themselves, they may be less likely to translate social lessons from these stories into their everyday lives.

"These findings add to a growing body of research showing that children find it easier to apply knowledge from stories that are realistic," said Patricia Ganea, Associate Professor of early cognitive development at OISE.

"Overall, children were more likely to act on the moral of the story when it featured a human character," Ganea added.

During the study, kids listened to a story with either human or human-like animal characters who spoke and wore clothes. Each book taught children about sharing with others.

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Children's altruistic giving was assessed before and after the reading. Most kids said the animals lacked human characteristics.

The researchers said one of the reasons some children did not act generously was because they did not interpret the anthropomorphic animals as similar to themselves.

The researchers also suggested that books with realistic characters lead to better learning for kids.

"Books that children can easily relate to increase their ability to apply the story's lesson to their daily lives," Ganea said.

"It is important for educators and parents to choose carefully when the goal is to teach real-world knowledge and social behaviours through storybooks."

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”