Lying, cheating and fairness: The knowledge-behavior gap in development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Developmental psychologists studying moral development have long recognized that children do not always do what they say is right (Hartshorne, May & Shuttleworth, 1930; Piaget, 1932). However, research on the so-called knowledge-behavior gap has focused primarily on distribution tasks to the neglect of other moral phenomena (Blasi, 1980; Blake, 2018). This symposium consists of three papers examining the developmental timing of the gap in three areas of moral development: lying, cheating and fairness. A distinguished discussant will place this research within cognitive development more broadly.

In Study 1, 6- to-12-year-olds (N=390) were asked for their moral evaluations of prosocial and antisocial lies and then given the opportunity to lie in an experiment. Although children rated both types of lies as wrong, the majority lied in the experiment; their prior evaluations did not predict their lying. In Study 2-, 3- and 5-year-olds (N=100) could cheat on a self-scoring guessing game while being secretly videoed. Later, they were asked for their moral judgments about cheating. Children judged cheating to be wrong, but 40% cheated on the task. Here, judgments also did not predict behaviors. In Study 3, 3- to 8-year-olds (N=195) were asked to judge the fairness of an unequal distribution of stickers when a fair procedure was used. Younger children who received an advantage said this was more fair than when other children benefited from the advantage. Combined these studies will advance our understanding of how moral judgment aligns with, or departs from, behavior during development.

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chair

• Peter R. Blake, Boston University

Discussant

• Paul Harris, Harvard University

Individual Presentations

• Children’s moral understanding of antisocial and prosocial lying and their actual lying behaviors - Presenting Author: Sarah Zanette, University of Regina; Non-Presenting Author: Leena Augimeri, Child Development Institute; Non-Presenting Author: Margaret Walsh, Child Development Institute; Non-Presenting Author: Kang Lee, University of Toronto

• The relation between young children’s understanding of cheating and their cheating behavior - Presenting Author: Wenjin Sun, Hangzhou Normal University; Non-Presenting Author: Li Zhao, Hangzhou Normal University, P. R. China; Non-Presenting Author: Gail D Heyman, University of California - San Diego; Non-Presenting Author: Kang Lee, University of Toronto

• The fairness gap for self and other in development: The case of fair procedures - Presenting Author: Teresa Harvey, Boston University; Non-Presenting Author: Lucy Stowe, University of California - Davis; Non-Presenting Author: Isabella Maehl, the University of Bath; Non-Presenting Author: Zoe Wilson, Boston University; Non-Presenting Author: Peter R. Blake, Boston University