Is My Friend Lying?

For 4- to 9-year olds

This study will take place on a video call, live with a researcher. During the study, your child will be asked to answer several questions after listening to a series of four stories with accompanying animations about three people (per story). After each story, your child will be asked to answer a few questions, such as how he or she evaluates the lie and what motivated the actor to lie.

People tell lies for many different reasons. Research has shown that people will often tell lies to cover up a wrongdoing or tell a white lie to be polite. It is also a well-known fact in social psychology that people more often like those that are similar to them. There is a gap in the research, however, about how people tell lies to seem like others to foster a relationship. So, this study focuses on how children evaluate those types of lies and understand their motivations. Children tell and hear a variety of lies in their daily lives, but what do they think about them? If someone tells a lie to get someone else to play with them, how should that lie be evaluated? The purpose of this study is to shed light on children’s development in regard to lying as well as their understanding of the connection between lying and social relationships.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have more than one child that is eligible to participate, please create separate appointments for each child and fill out separate consent forms for each child! The appointments can be back to back, but each appointment can only be for one participant. Without consent forms for each child, we are unable to do the study.

30 minutes

After the Microsoft Teams session is completed, we will email you a $5 (USD) Amazon gift card (redeemable only at Amazon.com). To receive this compensation, the following criteria must be met: (1) your child is between the ages of 4 and 9 years old, (2) English is (one of) the child's first language(s), (3) your child is visible on camera in a valid consent video during the study, and (4) the study is conducted in English as described. Each child is only allowed to participate once and receives only one gift card. If eligibility criteria are met, you will receive this compensation within a week of your participation.