Physical actions shape moral choices: Environment-directed movements reduce cheating in young children

This research examines whether physical actions and moral decision making are causally linked. Across five preregistered studies involving 330 preschoolers (M_age = 5.96 years; 166 boys and 164 girls; middle-class Han Chinese), we investigated how distinct types of physical actions influence honesty and cheating behavior. Our findings revealed that children were consistently more honest when they performed an action on the environment (e.g., pulling down a screen on a box) than when they performed the same action on themselves (e.g., pulling down a blindfold they wore on their face). These results establish a robust causal link between physical actions and morality, demonstrating that the direction of action, that is, whether they are oriented toward the external environment or oneself, can significantly impact honesty. They challenge the traditional view that moral decisions are purely cognitive and disembodied processes. Instead, they emphasize the embodied nature of morality, where physical actions play a crucial role in shaping ethical choices from an early age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).