The truth about children’s dishonesty: Implications for legal settings

• In Event: Individual differences in personality and deceptive conduct predisposing to criminal behavior and recidivism

Abstract

Dishonesty is viewed as a pervasive human behavior occurring virtually in all contexts, manifesting as the disposition to conceal, deceive, or cheat. Due to its different levels of complexity (ranging from simple concealments to elaborated fabrications), dishonesty can provide a unique perspective on children’s cognitive, emotional, and social development.
A growing body of research has documented the paradoxical nature of dishonesty. The developmental paradox of dishonesty relies on its progression from a normative aspect of development at younger ages to problematic adolescent behavior, which, if relied upon constantly, is associated with adverse behavioral and emotional outcomes. Therefore, understanding the extent to which a child could be motivated to provide misleading information and their ability to do so depending on their age becomes crucial in specific legal settings (e.g., children’s testimonies).
Across three empirical paradigms, we investigated the individual and contextual mechanisms supporting children’s various types of dishonesty (from keeping a secret to fabricating statements) throughout middle childhood and the extent to which we can detect children withholding evidence through a memory-based paradigm (the Reaction Time based Concealed Information Test – RT-CIT).
Our results indicated that school-age children are becoming increasingly skilled in deceiving with age in conjunction with their sophisticated socio-cognitive development (e.g., theory of mind and executive functioning). Moreover, we also demonstrated that their propensity to deceive is modulated by the motivational context and the recipient’s familiarity (e.g., familiar vs. unfamiliar peers). Lastly, we provided preliminary evidence on the utility of using a memory-based paradigm (the RT-CIT) meant to discriminate between knowledgeable and unknowledgeable children engaged in mock crime scenarios. Implications for legal settings when children may be motivated to deceive will be discussed.

Authors

• Narcisa Prodan, Research in Individual Differences and Legal Psychology (RIDDLE) Lab, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania

• Laura Visu-Petra, RIDDLE Lab, Department of Psychology, Babes-Bolyai University