Do you care more about beetles or sick people? Your answer likely depends on your age, since your moral compass gradually shifts from early childhood to adulthood.

As we get older, we increasingly value other human beings over plants, animals and inanimate objects, according to research led by Karri Neldner at the University of Queensland.

Her team showed 24 pictures to 151 children aged between 4 and 10 and asked them to place the ones they cared about most in an …