The significance of 'lie responses' in the prediction of early delinquency.

Abstract

Summary. Three measures were obtained concerning 411 boys at primary schools: (i) the degree of Social Handicap of their homes, (ii) school‐teachers' behavioural ratings, (iii) the New Junior Maudsley Inventory (NJMI). Four years later, they were screened for records of court conviction and for minor delinquent acts. Boys convicted by their 14th birthday (N=30) were matched for degree of Social Handicap with innocent controls.Social handicap was found to interact with the three scales of the NJMI, severely handicapped boys being specially high on N. Handicap and teachers' ratings both predicted official delinquency. The contrast between teachers' report and self‐report on the L items produced a scale of ‘Suppression’ which also predicted court conviction. Among the ‘low suppressors' only, Extra‐version predicted conviction significantly. The N scale did not discriminate.