Encouraging Honesty: Developmental Differences in the Influence of Honesty Promotion Techniques.

DISCLOSURE; POSITIVE psychology; HONESTY; CHILD development; ALTRUISM; SELF-perception; MOTIVATION (Psychology); COGNITION; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; RESEARCH funding; DECEPTION; CHILDREN

Given the value placed on honesty and the negative consequences of lying, encouraging children's truth-telling is important. The present investigation assessed honesty promotion techniques for encouraging 3–8-year-old Canadian children's (Study 1: n = 301, 54% female; Study 2: n = 229, 50% female from predominantly White middle-class samples) disclosure of a transgression and whether they varied by age. Study 1 examined promising to tell the truth, inducing self-awareness, and the combination of both promising and self-awareness. Study 2 assessed modeling honesty, positive consequences of honesty, and the combination of modeling and consequences. Some individual techniques worked for specific age groups: Self-awareness only increased 3–4-year-olds' and promising only increased 7–8-year-olds' honesty. However, the combination of modeling and consequences increased honesty for all age groups. Findings suggest that different motivational factors may encourage children's honesty across childhood. Public Significance Statement: The present investigation suggests that as age increases, different motivational factors may influence children's honesty. While inducing self-awareness increased 3–4-year-olds' truth-telling about a transgression and promising to tell the truth increased 7–8-year-olds' honesty, the combination of both modeling honesty and highlighting the positive outcomes of honesty increased 3–8-year-olds' honesty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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