Social and Cognitive Correlates of Children’s Lying Behavior

TLDR

The study examined the relationship between children’s lie‑telling and their social and cognitive development. Researchers instructed 3–8‑year‑old children not to peek at a toy while assessing their moral understanding of lies, executive function, and theory‑of‑mind. Most children peeked and lied about it, with inconsistent subsequent statements revealing deceit; initial false denials correlated with first‑order belief understanding and inhibitory control, sustained lying correlated with second‑order belief understanding and moral evaluations, indicating that social and cognitive factors influence children’s lie‑telling.

Abstract

The relation between children’s lie‐telling and their social and cognitive development was examined. Children (3–8 years) were told not to peek at a toy. Most children peeked and later lied about peeking. Children’s subsequent verbal statements were not always consistent with their initial denial and leaked critical information revealing their deceit. Children’s conceptual moral understanding of lies, executive functioning, and theory‐of‐mind understanding were also assessed. Children’s initial false denials were related to their first‐order belief understanding and their inhibitory control. Children’s ability to maintain their lies was related to their second‐order belief understanding. Children’s lying was related to their moral evaluations. These findings suggest that social and cognitive factors may play an important role in children’s lie‐telling abilities.