Differences and similarities in lying frequency, moral evaluations, and beliefs about lying among children with and without conduct problems

Abstract

The current study examined whether children (6–12 years old) with varying levels of conduct problems differ from those without conduct problems in three key areas: their perceptions of how often other people tell lies, their moral evaluations of truth- and lie-telling in different social contexts, and how often they tell antisocial and prosocial (i.e., “white”) lies. Using a continuous measurement of conduct problems, we found that children with greater conduct problems believed that other people tell lies more often compared with children with fewer conduct problems. However, unexpectedly, children’s moral evaluations of truth- and lie-telling in antisocial and prosocial contexts did not significantly differ based on conduct problems. Using parent-report methods, we found that children tell more antisocial lies with increasing severity of conduct problems, but they tell prosocial lies at a similar rate regardless of conduct problems. Finally, after grouping children based on level of conduct problems (none, low, or high), we found that children in the group with no conduct problems told more prosocial lies than antisocial lies, but the reverse was found for children in the group with high conduct problems. These findings highlight the importance of considering social context when examining the development of lying in children experiencing conduct problems.