Messaging about descriptive and injunctive norms can promote honesty in young children

Abstract

This research examined the effectiveness of using norms to promote honesty.Participants were Han Chinese children (N = 568, 50.4% male, 3.24 to 6.00 years, collected 2020-2022). Relative to children in a control condition, children in Study 1 were more likely to confess to having cheated in a game after being presented with a descriptive norm indicating that confessions are typical, or an injunctive norm indicating that most other children approve of confessing. Study 2 showed that this finding was not due to a methodological artifact, and Study 3 replicated the effect in a context in which the norm information was conveyed by someone other than the experimenter. The findings suggest that messages about social norms can influence children's honesty.

mentira en política y en la evidencia científica. Digresiones para una (otra) simulación en salud pública

“…Afortunadamente, ciertas normas sociales prescriptivas (por ej. "la mayoría de los niños aprueba no mentir") podrían influir en la honestidad en la infancia (Liu et Al, 2022).…”