Young children will lie to prevent a moral transgression

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Moral Psychology
• Child Development

Background:

• Children understand lying is wrong but engage in prosocial lying to protect feelings or norms.
• Limited understanding exists on whether children lie instrumentally to prevent harm to a third party.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the conditions under which 5- to 8-year-old children tell interventional lies.
• To determine if children lie to prevent a moral transgression against a third party.

Main Methods:

• Three studies (N=270) examined children's (ages 5-8) propensity to lie.
• Varied conditions included the intent of the seeker (theft vs. prosocial act), emphasis on harm, and the nature of the act (theft vs. positive action).

Main Results:

• Children lied more to prevent theft than a prosocial act.
• Emphasis on harm and the transgression (theft) significantly increased the likelihood of interventional lying across all age groups.
• Older children were more likely to lie in Study 1.

Conclusions:

• By age five, children can lie to prevent moral transgressions.
• Interventional lying is most likely when the transgression and harm to the victim are salient.
• Children's capacity for instrumental, prosocial lying develops by early childhood.