Parenting by Lying in Turkey: Associations with Negative Psychosocial Outcomes and Psychopathy in Adulthood

• In Event: Parenting by Lying: Interdisciplinary Evidence from Singapore, Canada, and Turkey

Abstract

Parents encourage honesty in their children, yet ironically, majority of them admit lying to their children (Heyman et al.,2013) as a means of behavioural and emotional control. While children may not consciously recognize parents’ lies in the moment, they may come to this recognition later on, which may hinder their relationship in the long run and create psychosocial adjustment problems in adulthood. Research showed that Canadian adults who experienced parenting by lying in childhood engaged in more frequent lying to their parents, which was in turn related to antisocial personality problems in adulthood (Santos et al.,2017). Likewise, increased parenting by lying in childhood was associated with more frequent lying to parents in Chinese adults, which was then indirectly related to internalizing and externalizing problems (Setoh et al.,2020).
The current study explored whether exposure to parenting by lying during childhood has the same negative long-term associations in Turkish adults as it does with Canadian and Chinese adults. Turkey is an interesting country to explore this phenomenon. It is influenced by globalization and bears similarities in common parenting practices to other cultures, while also differs from them in terms of ongoing existence of traditional parenting values. Focusing on this unique culture, we also expanded previous research by examining more severe behaviour problems such as psychopathic traits. Parents who lie to children may inadvertently teach lying as a means of coping with uncomfortable situations or manipulating others for personal gain, which over time through positive reinforcement leads children to resort to pathological lying–an early risk factor and hallmark trait of psychopathy.
One hundred eighty-two Turkish university students (Mage=20.90) reported on their retrospective childhood experiences of exposure to parenting by lying, the frequency at which they currently engage in lying to their parents, and their current expression of internalizing and externalizing problems, and psychopathic traits. Three findings emerged. First, a greater recall of parenting by lying in childhood was associated with more frequent lying to parents in adulthood, which suggests similarities between Canadian, Chinese and Turkish samples, and also points to the role of observational learning in lying behavior. Second, more frequent lying to parents was significantly associated with increased psychosocial adjustment problems and psychopathic traits. Lying to parents may lead to the internalization of guilt and shame or to the externalization of anger, and thus, internalizing and externalizing problems, and psychopathic behaviors might be exhibited to cope with these negative emotions. Finally, parenting by lying in childhood was positively associated with secondary psychopathic traits in Turkish adults, and this association emerged both directly and indirectly through the frequency of lying to parents. Parenting by lying may inadvertently teach children the effectiveness of lying in achieving one’s goals or avoiding uncomfortable situations. Adults who recall more experiences of parenting by lying may be prone to greater lying to their parents in adulthood, the effectiveness of which is then reinforced through its ability to lower frustration and facilitate the achievement of a short-term goal, thereby leading to the expression of secondary psychopathic traits.

Authors

• Rachel Jackson, University of Toronto
  Non-Presenting Author

• Muge Ekerim-Akbulut, Istanbul 29 Mayis University
  Presenting Author

• Sarah Zanette, University of Regina
  Non-Presenting Author

• Bilge Selcuk, Koç Üniversitesi
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kang Lee, University of Toronto
  Non-Presenting Author