Poster #129 - The Effects of Self- and Other-Awareness on Chinese Children’s Truth-Telling

• In Event: 3-106 - Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Section - Moral Development

Integrative Statement

Previous studies have demonstrated a spike in lie-telling rates between 3 to 4 years of age (Lee, 2013; Talwar & Lee, 2002). Yet, few studies have examined how to reduce these deceptive behaviors in young children. One technique that has been successful with younger children is increasing their self-awareness (Bender et al., 2018). However, a limitation in the honesty promotion literature is that these techniques have largely focused on children living in Western cultures. In fact, only one study to date has examined how to reduce lie-telling behaviors in non-Western children (Ma et al., 2018). Given that lie-telling is a social act that is observed across cultures (Global deception research team, 2006), it is important to examine methods for promoting honesty in non-Western cultures. The present study examined the effectiveness of two honesty promotion techniques (self-awareness vs. other-awareness) with young children from Mainland China.

Procedure. 132 3-to 4-year-olds from Mainland China were asked not to peek at a forbidden toy while the experimenter was out of the room. When the experimenter returned, children were asked if they peeked at the toy (measure of lie-telling) and what they thought the toy was (measure of lie maintenance). Prior to being asked if they peeked, children were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In the Self-Awareness condition, children were instructed to look at themselves in a mirror and state their name and age. In the Other-Awareness condition, children were instructed to look at a photo of their peer and state their peer’s name and age. In the Control condition, children were instructed to point to various items in the room to elapse a similar amount of time as the other two conditions.

Hypotheses. Self-awareness has been found to promote young children’s honesty in Western cultures where individualistic values are prioritized (Bender et al., 2018). Given that China, on the other hand, instills collectivist values, we predicted that other-awareness would be the most effective in promoting honesty, but that both techniques would be more effective than the Control condition.

Results. Children in the Self-Awareness condition were significantly more likely to tell the truth compared to children in the Control condition, B = 1.43, Wald = 4.95, p = .026, OR = 4.16. There was no significant difference between the Control and Other-Awareness conditions, B = 0.965, Wald = 2.54, p = .111. Lie-telling rates did not differ by age (p > .05). No significant age or condition differences emerged in children’s abilities to maintain their lies across questions (ps > .05). These results demonstrate the cross-cultural effectiveness of utilizing self-awareness to promote young children’s honesty. Given that inducing self-awareness was significantly more effective than other-awareness, even in a culture that more extensively promotes the importance of others, one’s perception of the self may be a particularly salient factor in the development and expression of dishonest behaviors.

Authors

• Alison M O'Connor, Brock University
  Presenting Author

• Xiao Pan Ding, National University of Singapore
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mengxing Weng, Meizhouwan Vocational Technology College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Quan Tang, Ganzhou Teachers College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Genyue Fu, Hangzhou Normal University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Angela D Evans, Brock University
  Non-Presenting Author