Year
2020
Season
Spring
Paper Type
Master's Thesis
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Psychology
NACO controlled Corporate Body
University of North Florida. Department of Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Tracey Alloway
Second Advisor
Dr. Lindsay Mahovetz
Department Chair
Dr. Lori Lange
College Dean
Dr. John Kantner
Abstract
The current study examined children’s lie-telling behavior across three motivational contexts. There were 32 children (M = 5.08 years, SD = 0.53) who participated in four experimental paradigms to examine the differences among antisocial and prosocial lying during preschool age years. Children were assessed on overall peer relations and working memory cognitive measures to gain a better understanding of how our social worlds and developmental trajectories affect the types of lies told. Results revealed children’s lie-telling was not uniform across the sequential motivational contexts. Children utilized both lie types depending on the perceived severity or social influence, but at this age in particular, children were fairly more consistent in telling antisocial lies than prosocial lies. These findings advance our understanding of the development of lying and how children’s decisions to lie may change over time and across different social and motivational contexts.
Suggested Citation
Hendrix, Tessa Delaney, "Cheater, Cheater: Examination of Children's Lying for Different Motivations" (2020). UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 936.
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/936