Behavior - Study: Social environment influences whether children lie
The social environment and parenting style can influence how often children lie. This was revealed in a study conducted by researchers from the Universities of Würzburg, Bonn, and Oxford, who interviewed over 1600 families and examined the behavior of schoolchildren and parents. Children can learn to be honest when they receive affection and trust.
Since 2011, a study conducted by Würzburg Business Professor Fabian Kosse and his two colleagues investigated the consequences of resource scarcity on the development of children and adolescents. The propensity to lie was one aspect of this, explained Kosse.
Mentors become reference figures
For the study presented in the journal "The Economic Journal," the team followed children and their families from Cologne and Bonn since primary school age, mainly from educationally disadvantaged and socio-economically weak households. Over 200 children were randomly selected to participate in a mentoring program for a year, during which volunteer mentors spent an hour a week with them and did something nice together, thus becoming a stable reference figure. The other children were in the control group. Children from educationally advantaged households served as an additional comparison.
According to Kosse, "Inequality arises early in life - even in the propensity to lie." In an experiment, the scientists had the children roll dice and predict the result beforehand. If their prediction matched the outcome, they could take a small monetary reward. The children were unobserved - no one controlled whether there was actually agreement.
Those who receive affection are more honest
The researchers calculated the percentage of cheating incidents based on statistical probabilities. It was found that "children who participated in the mentoring program were, in general, more honest," said Kosse. Forty-four percent of them cheated, compared to 58 percent in the control group without mentors. Children from educationally advantaged households also lied less. "A caring and attentive parenting style is related to less lying," said Kosse. "Even if parents are more willing to trust their children and others, this leads to more honesty."
The scientists view the result as a long-term success for the mentoring program: Four years later, the children participated in the dice experiment again. This shows that early childhood interventions not only improve a child's performance but can also influence their social and moral behavior, according to the study. Mentoring programs are an effective support, especially for children from households with relatively few stimuli and care.
- The study, involving researchers from Great Britain's Oxford University among others, discovered that the social environment and parenting style significantly impact children's lying frequency.
- The researchers from Würzburg, Bonn, and Oxford conducted their study in both Cologne and Bonn, focusing primarily on children from educationally disadvantaged and socio-economically weak households.
- In Germany, a study led by Fabian Kosse from Würzburg Business School investigated the influence of resource scarcity on children and adolescents, including the propensity to lie as one of the aspects.
- The mentoring program in the study, which took place in Cologne, involved volunteers spending an hour a week with children from educational disadvantage backgrounds, becoming a stable reference figure.
- Gert Göltenboth and Ingo Schwarz from Hamburg University joined Kosse in the research, which revealed that children from educationally advantaged households also had less inclination to lie.
- In Bavaria, a dice experiment was conducted to analyze the children's propensity to lie by having them predict dice results, without any observation or control, and awarding small rewards for correct predictions.
- The parents' parenting style that involves affection and trust was found to be linked to less lying by the researchers, who suggest that an early emphasis on nurturing and trust leads to more honesty in children and society.
