Promoting honesty through overheard conversations
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9788152 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Liyang Sai (0000-0001-6252-8132, Hangzhou Normal University, corresponding author), Xingchen Liu (0000-0002-8516-2759, Hangzhou Normal University), Hong Li (0000-0001-5170-505X, Hangzhou Normal University), Brian J Compton (0000-0003-0277-7975, University of California San Diego), Gail D Heyman (0000-0001-7764-3205, University of California San Diego) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1073-1079 |
| Publication date | 2020-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Developmental Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0012-1649 • E-ISSN: 1939-0599 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037/dev0000933 |
| PMID | 32309981 |
| OpenAlex | W3016631067 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 8 |
Although there is widespread acknowledgment that children acquire social and moral values during development via socialization processes, few plausible mechanisms have been systematically evaluated. In the present research, we examine the effectiveness of 1 potential mechanism: overheard conversations about the moral behavior of others. We examine this issue with reference to the important social value of honesty. Across 3 preregistered studies, preschool-age children in China (total N = 276) were presented with a version of the temptation resistance paradigm in which they were first given an opportunity to cheat by peeking at the answer in a guessing game and were then asked whether they had cheated. Study 1 included both 3- and 5-year-olds, and Studies 2 and 3 included 5-year-olds only. In Study 1 children were more likely to truthfully confess to peeking if they had previously overheard 2 adults say that another child's confession made them happy. An increase in truthful confessions was also seen in Study 2, even though this time the adult who asked about peeking had not been present for the overheard conversation. In Study 3, children were presented with an overheard conversation that lacked any emotion-related language, and the effect was seen once again. Taken together, these findings suggest that overheard conversations can be used to promote truth telling. More broadly, the findings suggest that children realize the attitudes adults express about others can have implications for their own behavior and can identify these attitudes, even when they are not the target of the communication. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)
Cheating · Conversation · Developmental psychology · Dishonesty · Honesty · Lying · Socialization · Temptation · Value (mathematics · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Child and Animal Learning Development · Communication · Cultural Differences and Values · Psychology · Social Psychology
Learning Words through Overhearing
The double-edged sword of pedagogy
Social learning theory
Lying
The Influence of Direct and Overheard Messages on Children's Attitudes Toward Novel Social Groups
Impact of parental discipline methods on the child's internalization of values
When all signs point to you
Gossip as Cultural Learning
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |