Do Stories About Lying and Honesty Reduce Lie-Telling Behaviors in Children?

Since lying is a negative phenomenon, it has inspired theoretical and applied research on how to reduce such behaviors. Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to examine whether children’s lie-telling behaviors are affected by honesty- and lie-themed stories using an experimental design. A total...

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Main Author: Muhammed Sukru Aydin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences 2024-12-01
Series:Studia Psychologica
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Online Access:https://journals.savba.sk/index.php/studiapsychologica/article/view/2894
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author Muhammed Sukru Aydin
author_facet Muhammed Sukru Aydin
author_sort Muhammed Sukru Aydin
collection DOAJ
description Since lying is a negative phenomenon, it has inspired theoretical and applied research on how to reduce such behaviors. Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to examine whether children’s lie-telling behaviors are affected by honesty- and lie-themed stories using an experimental design. A total of 176 children (85 girls), aged 4 to 5 years, were included in the study. We randomly assigned participants to three different experimental groups in which they were told the importance of honesty (the honesty story), the short-term negative consequences of lying (Pinocchio), and the fact that lying is a terrible behavior with important consequences (The Boy Who Cried Wolf). No moral story was told to the children in the control group. Then, we utilized a “temptation resistance task” to measure the lie-telling behaviors of the children in the control and experimental groups. The results showed that the children in the control group lied more often than the children in all the experimental groups. The analyses conducted to ascertain the differences among the groups also revealed that children who listened to Pinocchio used significantly fewer lie-telling behaviors compared to the children who listened to the honesty story and the children in the control group.
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institution Kabale University
issn 0039-3320
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publisher Slovak Academy of Sciences, Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences
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spelling doaj-art-fe93ce8fbf174c8ea06dc6b17a4058262024-12-13T11:30:18ZengSlovak Academy of Sciences, Centre of Social and Psychological SciencesStudia Psychologica0039-33202585-88152024-12-0166410.31577/sp.2024.04.907Do Stories About Lying and Honesty Reduce Lie-Telling Behaviors in Children?Muhammed Sukru Aydin0Selcuk University Since lying is a negative phenomenon, it has inspired theoretical and applied research on how to reduce such behaviors. Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to examine whether children’s lie-telling behaviors are affected by honesty- and lie-themed stories using an experimental design. A total of 176 children (85 girls), aged 4 to 5 years, were included in the study. We randomly assigned participants to three different experimental groups in which they were told the importance of honesty (the honesty story), the short-term negative consequences of lying (Pinocchio), and the fact that lying is a terrible behavior with important consequences (The Boy Who Cried Wolf). No moral story was told to the children in the control group. Then, we utilized a “temptation resistance task” to measure the lie-telling behaviors of the children in the control and experimental groups. The results showed that the children in the control group lied more often than the children in all the experimental groups. The analyses conducted to ascertain the differences among the groups also revealed that children who listened to Pinocchio used significantly fewer lie-telling behaviors compared to the children who listened to the honesty story and the children in the control group. https://journals.savba.sk/index.php/studiapsychologica/article/view/2894development of lyinghonestylie-telling behaviorsmoral story
spellingShingle Muhammed Sukru Aydin
Do Stories About Lying and Honesty Reduce Lie-Telling Behaviors in Children?
Studia Psychologica
development of lying
honesty
lie-telling behaviors
moral story
title Do Stories About Lying and Honesty Reduce Lie-Telling Behaviors in Children?
title_full Do Stories About Lying and Honesty Reduce Lie-Telling Behaviors in Children?
title_fullStr Do Stories About Lying and Honesty Reduce Lie-Telling Behaviors in Children?
title_full_unstemmed Do Stories About Lying and Honesty Reduce Lie-Telling Behaviors in Children?
title_short Do Stories About Lying and Honesty Reduce Lie-Telling Behaviors in Children?
title_sort do stories about lying and honesty reduce lie telling behaviors in children
topic development of lying
honesty
lie-telling behaviors
moral story
url https://journals.savba.sk/index.php/studiapsychologica/article/view/2894
work_keys_str_mv AT muhammedsukruaydin dostoriesaboutlyingandhonestyreducelietellingbehaviorsinchildren