1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«[T]he current research program sought to investigate social variables related to children’s prosocial lying in politeness situations. [...] This dissertation comprises two manuscripts that collectively contribute to the literature by exploring children’s truth-and lie-telling in a politeness situation, and social variables related to its development.» (p. ii)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«[W]hen there was a low-cost to oneself for telling a lie, it was expected that more children would be motivated to tell a lie and spare the feelings of the gift-giver. In contrast, when there was a high-cost to ones’ self for telling a lie (i.e., that they would lose a desirable gift), fewer children were expected to lie. [...] It was expected that prosocial liars, compared to truth-tellers, would have parents who scored higher on the authoritative dimension and had overall high levels of emotional expressiveness displayed in their families. [...] It was expected that prosocial liars would evaluate prosocial lie scenarios more positively, would provide positive ratings of the protagonists’ feelings when telling a lie, and would believe that the lie-recipient would be pleased about being told the lie. [In the second manuscript,] it was expected that parents and children would be similar in their expressive behaviours when telling a lie.» (p. 36-37)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«In Study 1 [of the first manuscript], 72 children from the 2nd and 4th grades (Age: M[moyenne] = 8.38 years, SD[écart type]= 0.56) participated in a disappointing gift paradigm with either high or low consequences for lying. [...] In Study 2 [of the first manuscript], 117 children from preschool to late elementary school (Age: M = 8.04 years, SD = 2.03) also participated in a disappointing gift paradigm with high or low costs for lying [...] Parents completed questionnaires regarding their parenting styles and family emotional expressiveness.[Participants of the second manuscript are] [f]orty-seven parent-child dyads (ranging in age from 7 to 15 years)». (p. ii-iii)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

In the first manuscript, «[l]ying was more common when the consequences for doing so were low-as compared to the high-cost condition. Preschoolers, compared to older children, were least likely to tell a prosocial lie in the high-cost condition. In addition, prosocial liars had families who expressed positive emotions infrequently, and relied on an authoritative parenting style. Finally, there was an interaction between the prosocial liars and their evaluations of the protagonists’ and recipients’ feelings in the vignettes. [In the second manuscript,] [a]dult raters who viewed the drink descriptions were unable to accurately differentiate the truths and lies. Adults were also biased in their overall evaluations; they perceived the parents as being truthful and children as being lie-tellers. In-depth video analysis of parents and children’s expressive behaviours revealed no differences between parents and their children. Taken together, findings from these two manuscripts provide theoretical and empirical support to examine social variables in relation to the development of children’s truth- and lie-telling.» (p. iii)