The role of executive functioning and theory of mind in children’s lies for another and for themselves

Abstract

In the current study, children’s abilities to lie both for themselves and for another were examined in relation to executive functioning skills and theory of mind understanding. A total of 160 preschoolers (ages 4–5 years) participated. Their willingness to tell self-motivated lies and other-motivated lies were measured using two different experimental paradigms. Children’s lie-telling was compared to their performance on measures of executive functioning and theory of mind. Results revealed that the majority of children (69%) told lies for themselves, while less than half of children (45%) told lies for others. Although there was a modest degree of consistency in children’s lie-telling behavior for the two lies, different executive functioning measures and theory of mind abilities were found to support self and other related lie-telling. Specifically, higher performance on tasks of inhibitory control (Whispers task) and first-order ToM were associated with self-oriented lies. Yet, other motivated lies were related to performance on tasks of inhibitory control (Stroop task) and cognitive flexibility. Further, higher cognitive flexibility and ToM scores were associated with an overall greater willingness to lie in both contexts. Taken together, the findings suggest that children’s lie-telling abilities are multi-faceted in nature and vary as a function of motivational context and cognitive skill development.