Lie-telling as a mode of antisocial action: Children’s lies and behavior problems

Jennifer Lavoie*, Joshua Wyman, Angela M. Crossman, Victoria Talwar

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Despite the fact that lie-telling is a common concern among parents, clinicians, and professionals, there has been little systematic investigation of the lies that children tell in relation to their problematic behaviors, nor of other social factors that may influence this relation. This study explored the relation between children’s problem behaviors and their lie-telling in two studies. The first examined whether children would tell an antisocial lie to an unfamiliar adult to conceal cheating behavior. The second analyzed the relation between children’s problem behaviors, parenting styles, and the frequency of lies reported by parents over two weeks at home. Results suggest that children with higher levels of behavior problems are more likely to tell an antisocial lie to an unfamiliar adult and have a higher frequency of parent-reported lies. Results also indicate that parenting approaches moderate the relation between behavior problems and the frequency of lies that parents report.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)432-450
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of Moral Education
Volume47
Issue number4
Early online date8 Jan 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Oct 2018

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • antisocial lies
  • behavior problems
  • Children
  • parenting

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