Kids less likely to tell truth if afraid of being punished

A new study has demonstrated that punishing kids for lying does not work as kids are more likely to tell the truth either to please an adult or because they believe it is the right thing to do.

The study conducted involved 372 children between the ages of 4 and 8 where they each child was kept alone in a room for 1 minute with a toy behind them on a table, having told the child not to peek during their absence.

When the researchers returned, they asked the child, did they turn around and peak at the toy and then researchers discovered was that slightly more than 2/3 of the children peeked at the toy (67.5 percent or 251 children out of the 372 who were involved in the experiment).

When the children were asked whether or not they had peeked, again about 2/3 of them lied (167 children or 66.5 percent) and month-by-month as children aged, they both become more likely to tell lies and more adept at maintaining their lies.

According to the study, children were less likely to tell the truth if they were afraid of being punished than if they were asked to tell the truth either because it would please the adult, or because it was the right thing to do and would make the child feel good.

Victoria Talwar, the lead researcher on the study, asserted that the bottom line was that punishment did not promote truth-telling and in fact, the threat of punishment could have the reverse effect by reducing the likelihood that children will tell the truth when encouraged to do so.