Why We Lie About Good Deeds: Rationales Represented in Chinese Children’s Narratives

• In Event: Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: The Wide Range of Moral Development and Moral Education Research

Abstract

This study examines Chinese children’s rationales for lying about good deeds. Forty-one Chinese children participated in interviews that focused on their lived experiences of lying about good deeds and the moral meanings they constructed for the experiences. Findings indicate that four rationales for lying about good deeds exist in variations in the way Chinese children react to the attitudes of authority, rules of right conduct, peers’ responses, and personal feelings. In revealing the socio-moral intricacy of lying about good deeds, this article helps readers appreciate the subtle character of moral thought and action not only within Chinese culture, but beyond. The present study is limited in that participants were from the same primary or high school in the same city.

Authors

• Minghui Gao, Arkansas State University

• Changchun Wang, Normal University

• Yuheng Wang, China Higher Education Press