Did You Know Harsh Discipline Turns Kids Into Good Liars?

The Link Between Harsh Punishment and Dishonesty

A 2011 study published in the journal Child Development reveals that children in punitive environments tend to conceal their misbehavior with dishonesty. When researchers examined various schools in West Africa with differing discipline strategies, they discovered that children exposed to the harshest discipline were most prone to telling lies.

The children subjected to the most serious consequences attended private schools that used an authoritarian approach. Children were subjected to corporal punishment, including being slapped in the head, hit with a stick, and pinched. Offenses ranged from forgetting a pencil to disrupting the class.

The other group of children attended private schools that used more of an authoritative approach. Children were placed in time-out or scolded from minor infractions. Major rule violations resulted in a trip to the principal’s office.

Children from both groups were asked to play a guessing game. The experimenter told the children not to peek at a toy when left alone in the room but almost every child couldn’t resist peeking. When asked if they’d peeked, nearly all the children from the punitive school lied, while only about half of the student from the other school lied.

Corporal Punishment Turns Kids Into Savvy Storytellers

Interestingly, the study also discovered that children in a punitive environment are better at lying compared to their counterparts. It’s unclear whether they tell more convincing lies because they’re better practiced at dishonesty or because they have more at stake.

The children in the study who lied about peeking at the toy worked hard to cover their tracks. They deliberately guessed an incorrect answer or feigned ignorance, rather than blurting out the name of the toy. Researchers found that the 3 and 4-year-old storytellers were able to tell lies that were as convincing as the average 6 or 7-year-old.

The Importance of Using Healthy Discipline

Healthy discipline strategies encourage kids to take responsibility for their behavior – rather than lie to cover their mistakes. A child is more likely to admit he hit his brother if he knows he’s facing a time-out or loss of privileges rather than a spanking.

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Healthy discipline strategies preserve a child’s self-esteem. A child who feels good about himself is less likely to lie. Instead, he’ll be more willing to take responsibility for misbehavior and he’ll be more motivated to make a better decision in the future.

If your child’s first response to being confronted about misbehavior is to lie, give him a second chance. Say something like, “I want you to think about it for a minute and then I’m going to ask you one more time whether you took that donut off the counter.” Taking a minute to reflect may help him calm down enough that he’ll choose to be honest.

Make it clear that he’ll receive a less serious consequence if he’s honest. For example, if he admits he ate the donut after you told him not to, a loss of electronics for the day may be appropriate. If he lies about it – despite the frosting on his face – an additional consequence of helping you clean the kitchen may be in order.

Source: discipline.about.com