The Nature and Effects of Young Children's Lies

Abstract

Children's use of deception in a naturalistic setting was observed longitudinally in 40 families when children were 2 and 4 years old, and again two years later. Goals included describing children's lying behavior and parents' reactions to lies, and comparing lies to other false statements. Lies were commonly told to avoid responsibility for transgressions, to falsely accuse siblings, and to gain control over another's behavior. Unlike children's other false statements (e.g., mistakes, pretense), lies were distinctly self-serving. Parents rarely addressed the act of lying itself but often challenged the veracity of lies or addressed the underlying transgression. Older siblings lied more often than younger ones, and parents who allowed older siblings to lie at Time 1 had children who lied more often at Time 2. Results are considered from a speech-act perspective and in terms of children's developing understanding of mental states.In this study we examine children's use of deception in a naturalistic setting. Our goals were threefold: The first was to describe children's lying, including the frequency of lying, as well as to whom children lie, their reasons for deceiving, and the content of their lies. The second goal was to examine how parents react to their children's lies in an effort to understand if, and how parents socialize their children to believe that lying is unacceptable. The third was to explore the distinctions between lying and other false statements by examining self-serving biases in children's falsehoods, along with any developmental changes in the degree to which children's lies could potentially serve their interests. The Nature of Children's LiesIn a recent paper, Lee (2000) has analyzed children's understanding of lying from a speech-act perspective. Accordingly, lies are considered to be intentional acts that serve social functions and follow rules within particular social-cultural contexts. One social rule that is broken when individuals lie is Grice's (1980) Maxim of Quality, which specifies that conversationalists should make true rather than false statements.Correspondence should be sent to Anne E.

Children's Antisocial and Prosocial Lies to Familiar and Unfamiliar Adults

“…Antisocial lying is performed in order to protect the self from discovery of a transgression or for other self-serving motivations, and only benefits the lie-teller (DePaulo, Kashy, Kirkendol, Wyer, & Epstein, 1996). Prosocial deception, in contrast, refers to lies that benefit the lie-recipient such as telling a lie to protect another from disappointment or displeasure (DePaulo et al, 1996;Wilson et al, 2003). Commonly, people tell this type of lie in order to spare another"s feelings or to maintain social cohesion (DePaulo et al, 1996).…”

“…Parents often use stories such as "Pinocchio" and the "The Boy who Cried Wolf" to demonstrate to children the importance of truthfulness in everyday social interactions (Arruda et al, 2006;Biskin & Hoskison, 1977). Despite the use of these moral stories, researchers have noted that parents often observe and do not reprimand their children for small lies told (i.e., white-lies) (Wilson et al, 2003). Thus, deception within the family, and in particular the method by which parents teach their children about deception, can have important consequences on the types of lies children tell as well as their moral evaluations of these lies.…”

“…In an observational study, Wilson et al, (2003) examined the prevalence of children"s lies within the family environment. The researchers observed children"s home environment twice over the course of two years.…”

“…Wilson et al (2003) suggested that children are more likely to tell these lies to their parents since these power holders dispense punishments within the home. Thus, in order to avoid punishment, children may use deception to "cover-up" a misdeed and avoid the consequences associated with this misdeed.…”

“…Consistent with Bandura"s (1977) theory of social learning, within the first few years of early development children are introduced to the rules of social engagement through their interactions with parents or primary caregivers. It is within these first years that children learn the rules of deception and begin to demonstrate their use in everyday interactions (DePaulo & Jordan, 1982;Lewis & Saarni, 1993;Wilson, Smith, & Ross, 2003). While children may receive verbal instructions that "lying is bad", they will also, often times, observe the use of deceptive tactics by adults and be instructed to lie, in some contexts, by a parental figure.…”