Chinese children's moral evaluation of lies and truths—roles of context and parental individualism–collectivism tendencies

Abstract

The present study examined Chinese children’s moral evaluations of truths and lies about one’s own pro-social acts. Children ages 7, 9, and 11 were read vignettes in which a protagonist performs a good deed and is asked about it by a teacher, either in front of the class or in private. In response, the protagonist either tells a modest lie, which is highly valued by the Chinese culture, or tells an immodest truth, which violates the Chinese cultural norms about modesty. Children were asked to identify whether the protagonist’s statement was the truth or a lie, and to evaluate how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ the statement was. Chinese children rated modest lies more positively than immodest truths, with this effect becoming more pronounced with age. Rural Chinese children and those with at least one nonprofessional parent rated immodest truths less positively when they were told in public rather than in private. Furthermore, Chinese children of parents with high collectivism scores valued modest lies more than did children of parents with low collectivism scores. These findings suggest that both macro- and micro-cultural factors contribute significantly to children’s moral understanding of truth and lie telling.

The roles of liar intention, lie content, and theory of mind in children’s evaluation of lies

“…We used these age groups because previous studies have shown that in this age range children's lie evaluation is influenced by their perception of liar motivation, consequence of lying, and other social concerns (e.g., Fu et al, 2010;Ma et al, 2011;Xu et al, 2009). The child participants were Chinese-speaking children recruited through two primary schools in the same middle-class neighborhood in Hong Kong.…”

“…For identification, the participant was to judge whether the protagonist had lied; for evaluation, the participant was to rate the protagonist's lie statement on a 7-point scale regarding how morally ''good'' or ''bad'' it was (1 = extremely bad and 7 = extremely good). This statement evaluation procedure was used in many past studies examining lie perception in children in similar age ranges such as Fu et al (2010), Ma et al (2011), andXu et al (2009).…”

Development and Validation of the Chinese Modesty Scale (CMS)

“…First, 7- to 14-year-old children, whose modesty behavior development has been of great interest to researchers (Lee et al, 1997; Fu et al, 2010). Second, undergraduates, whose views of modesty have been examined using numerous self-report measurements.…”

“…Lao Tzu, one of the most famous Chinese philosophers, also said, “The great rivers and seas get their kingship over the hundred lesser streams through the merit of being lower than they” (Chen, 2009). In China, such sayings have become commonly accepted truths about modesty, with Chinese children as young as nine having been socialized to behave modesty in public (Lee et al, 1997; Fu et al, 2010). For Chinese people, modesty is not only an understanding of real life but also a moral demand for ideal personality characteristics (Miao and Liang, 2012).…”

“…Modesty is highly valued both in the East and West (Elliott, 2010). Meanwhile, it has obvious cultural relativity (Lee et al, 1997; Fu et al, 2010; Heyman et al, 2011). However, these modesty scales were primarily developed and validated in Western cultural settings.…”