To tell the truth or not: What effortful control, false belief, and sympathy tell us about preschoolers' instrumental lies.
J Exp Child Psychol
; 240: 105839, 2024 04.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38184957
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to examine the predictors of instrumental lies in preschool children, specifically focusing on false belief, effortful control, and sympathy. Instrumental lies are intentional falsehoods used to achieve personal goals such as avoiding punishment and obtaining an undeserved reward. A total of 192 preschool children (age range = 32-73 month-olds), along with their mothers and fathers, participated in the study. The Temptation Resistance Paradigm, an experimental task, was employed to elicit instrumental lies from the children. The children also completed first-order false belief measures, and their parents filled out questionnaires assessing their children's effortful control and sympathy skills. Results revealed a positive association between children's effortful control and their decisions to tell instrumental lies. However, no significant relationship was found between false belief and instrumental lying. Age moderated the link between sympathy and the decision to tell instrumental lies, with sympathy being negatively associated with lie-telling behavior among older children but showing no effect among younger children. The study variables did not predict the maintenance of instrumental lies. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the role of effortful control and sympathy as underlying temperamental and emotional processes influencing children's decisions to engage in instrumental lie-telling.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Padres
/
Emociones
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Aged
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Child
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Child, preschool
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Female
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Humans
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Exp Child Psychol
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos