Moral stories are a means of communicating the consequences of our actions and emphasizing virtuous behaviour, such as honesty. However, the effect of these stories on children's lie-telling has yet to be thoroughly explored. The current study investigated the influence of moral stories on children's willingness to lie for another individual. Children were read one of three stories prior to being questioned about an accidental wrongdoing: (1) a positive story, which emphasized the benefits of being honest; (2) a negative story, which outlined the potential costs of lying; and (3) a neutral story, which was unrelated to truth-telling or lie-telling. Initially, most children withheld information about the event. Older children were better able to maintain their lies throughout the interview. However, when asked direct questions, children in the positive story condition were more likely to tell the truth than those in the negative and neutral conditions. No significant differences were found between the negative and neutral story conditions. The present study also investigated the relationship between children's conceptual understanding and behaviour. The findings revealed that children's knowledge of truths and lies increased with age. Children who lied had significantly higher conceptual scores than those who did not lie. Furthermore, the type of story children were read had a significant impact on their evaluations of true and false statements. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Promoting Honesty: The Influence of Stories on Children's Lie-Telling Behaviours and Moral Understanding

Adult humans are characterized by low rates of intra-group physical aggression. Since children tend to be more physically aggressive, an evolutionary developmental account shows promise for explain...

/pdf/from-hitting-to-tattling-to-gossip-an-evolutionary-rationale-4un4nsb0oi.pdf

From hitting to tattling to gossip: An evolutionary rationale for the development of indirect aggression

Children as assessors and agents of third-party punishment

Children spontaneously police adults' transgressions.

American and Japanese children's evaluations of the reporting of peers' transgressions to authority figures were investigated. Seven-, 9-, and 11-year-old children (N = 160) and adults (N = 62) were presented with vignettes and were asked to evaluate the decisions of child observers who reported their friend's either major or relatively minor transgression to a teacher. The results showed that, in both countries, participants across all age groups considered it appropriate to report major transgressions. However, compared with older participants, the youngest children thought it was appropriate to tattle (i.e., to report more minor transgressions). The results also showed a cross-cultural difference: Japanese compared with American participants considered it appropriate to report minor transgressions. The age-related findings are discussed with reference to children's social experience and improving cognition. The cross-cultural findings are discussed with reference to potential differences in the emphases placed on respecting authority relationships, empathy, and social interdependence by the 2 cultures.

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/50/5/1520.pdf

Japanese and American Children's Moral Evaluations of Reporting on Transgressions

The way children evaluate the reporting of peers' transgressions to authority figures was investigated. Participants, ages 6-11 years (N = 60), were presented with a series of vignettes, each of which depicted a child who committed either a minor transgression (such as not finishing the vegetables at lunch) or a more serious transgression (such as stealing from a classmate). Participants were asked to evaluate the decision of a child observer who either did or did not report the transgression to a teacher. Younger children considered reporting to be appropriate for both types of transgressions, but older children considered reporting to be appropriate for major transgressions only. Results are interpreted with reference to (a) a changing peer culture in which the social cost of reporting transgressions increases and (b) a developmental change in children's cognitive capabilities.

/pdf/children-s-moral-evaluations-of-reporting-the-transgressions-jlydwsul0i.pdf

Children's moral evaluations of reporting the transgressions of peers: age differences in evaluations of tattling.

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Children's moral evaluations of reporting the transgressions of peers: age differences in evaluations of tattling.