Neuroscience
Most parents lie to their children, often as a way to control their behaviour. A new study asks whether lying to the little ones increases the likelihood that they too will lie. The authors, Chelsea Hays and Leslie Carver, say theirs is the first attempt to investigate this possibility.
Nearly two hundred children aged three to seven were each put through a similar scenario, one at a time. First, they were invited to go through to the next room. For half of them, the experimenter lied and said there was a huge bowl of sweets in that room. On arrival, the experimenter admitted she'd lied, that she just wanted the child to come play with them. For the other half of the children, the experimenter merely said there was a fun game to play in the next room, which was true.
The game, played by all the children, involved them sitting with their backs to the experimenter, listening to the sound effects of famous toy characters (Elmo, Cookie Monster, Winnie The Pooh), guessing each character's identity, and then turning around to see if they'd got it right. After the first two toys, the experimenter said she had to leave the room briefly, and that the child mustn't turn around to peek at the next toy. During this time, the children were left alone for 90 seconds and they were filmed to see if they peeked. Most of them did, and the younger children peeked more than the older children.
On her return, the experimenter asked each child if they'd sneaked a peek at the toy. The take-home result is that the children aged 5 to 7 were more likely to lie about peeking if the experimenter had earlier lied to them (approximately 88 per cent of the lied-to older children lied, compared with 65 per cent of those who weren't lied to). Rates of lying were lower among the younger children (around 50 per cent) and were not associated with whether the experimenter had lied to them earlier, possibly because younger children have yet to develop the skills needed to understand that they'd be lied to.
"The actions of parents suggest that they do not believe that the lies they tell their children will impact the child's own honesty," the researchers said. "The current study casts doubt on that belief. This study suggests, rather, that [school age] children may use the actions of adults, as a model, to determine whether they will engage in honest or dishonest behaviours." They added: "Perhaps adults need to re-evaluate the way that they interact and talk with children."
One limitation of the study, acknowledged by the researchers, is that the lying to the children was done by a stranger, not by their parents. It's possible that children might respond differently to parental lies - perhaps making it more or less likely that they will follow suit.
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Hays, C., & Carver, L. (2014). Follow the liar: the effects of adult lies on children's honesty Developmental Science, 17 (6), 977-983 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12171
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
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Neuroscience
When we lie to children, are we teaching them to be dishonest?
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| Cookie Monster - one of the characters featured in this research. |
Nearly two hundred children aged three to seven were each put through a similar scenario, one at a time. First, they were invited to go through to the next room. For half of them, the experimenter lied and said there was a huge bowl of sweets in that room. On arrival, the experimenter admitted she'd lied, that she just wanted the child to come play with them. For the other half of the children, the experimenter merely said there was a fun game to play in the next room, which was true.
The game, played by all the children, involved them sitting with their backs to the experimenter, listening to the sound effects of famous toy characters (Elmo, Cookie Monster, Winnie The Pooh), guessing each character's identity, and then turning around to see if they'd got it right. After the first two toys, the experimenter said she had to leave the room briefly, and that the child mustn't turn around to peek at the next toy. During this time, the children were left alone for 90 seconds and they were filmed to see if they peeked. Most of them did, and the younger children peeked more than the older children.
On her return, the experimenter asked each child if they'd sneaked a peek at the toy. The take-home result is that the children aged 5 to 7 were more likely to lie about peeking if the experimenter had earlier lied to them (approximately 88 per cent of the lied-to older children lied, compared with 65 per cent of those who weren't lied to). Rates of lying were lower among the younger children (around 50 per cent) and were not associated with whether the experimenter had lied to them earlier, possibly because younger children have yet to develop the skills needed to understand that they'd be lied to.
"The actions of parents suggest that they do not believe that the lies they tell their children will impact the child's own honesty," the researchers said. "The current study casts doubt on that belief. This study suggests, rather, that [school age] children may use the actions of adults, as a model, to determine whether they will engage in honest or dishonest behaviours." They added: "Perhaps adults need to re-evaluate the way that they interact and talk with children."
One limitation of the study, acknowledged by the researchers, is that the lying to the children was done by a stranger, not by their parents. It's possible that children might respond differently to parental lies - perhaps making it more or less likely that they will follow suit.
_________________________________
Hays, C., & Carver, L. (2014). Follow the liar: the effects of adult lies on children's honesty Developmental Science, 17 (6), 977-983 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12171
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
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They're too young to need to fib about lipstick on their collar or even their unfinished homework but a new study finds the majority of three-year-olds are already practising liars. Deception in very young children has been documented before, but...
- When Parents Lie To Their Children
We teach our kids that it is wrong to lie, even though most of us do it everyday. In fact, it is often our children who we are lying to. A new study, involving participants in the USA and China, is one of the first to investigate parental lies, finding...
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When teenagers are asked to provide testimonies for use in court, how do you increase the likelihood that they'll tell the truth? It may sound twee, but a North American study claims that merely asking them to promise to tell the truth can be surprisingly...
- Are Children From Collectivist Cultures More Likely To Say It's Okay To Lie For The Group?
Would you lie for the sake of your team? Perhaps it depends on the culture you come from. Monica Sweet at the University of California and her co-researchers reasoned that children from collectivist cultures, such as China, which emphasise the importance...
- Adults Are Unable To Tell When Children Are Lying
With their wide eyes and innocent hearts, you might think it's easy to tell when a child is lying. Oh no it isn't. Not according to Leif Stromwall and colleagues, who found adults were useless at detecting when children were lying. Thirty children...