EMERGENCE OF PROSOCIAL LYING BEHAVIOR IN SINGAPOREAN CHILDREN

Abstract

The ability to tell a prosocial lie, which is lie told with the motivation to be polite, make others feel good or to spare the feelings of the recipient, is an important aspect of the development of social skills in children. The current study explored the prosocial lying behavior in younger children aged 3 to 6 years old, and its relationship with cognitive factors such as theory of mind and inhibitory control. A modified version of the undesirable gift paradigm was used. It was hypothesized that prosocial lying behavior would increase as age increased and that there was positive relationship between the cognitive factors and prosocial lying behavior. The kinds of justifications given by the children for the lie was also examined. Sixty-five children participated in the study. The findings did not support the hypotheses. The possible reasons for the lack of significant results were discussed. The result also suggested that the undesirable gift paradigm might not be suitable to study prosocial lying behavior in younger children due to culture and socialisation factors.