The Influence Of Counterfactual Thinking On Lying Behavior In Children

Lying is a common social behavior in both adults and children.Understanding the cognitive mechanism and influencing factors of children’s lying behavior is of great significance for us to understand the development law of individual social cognition and social behavior.However,the development of children’s counterfactual thinking has a certain regulation effect on their social behavior.Counterfactual thinking and lying are realized by changing the previous thinking.Studies of lying and counterfactual thinking in adults have found two inconsistent results: one is that counterfactual thinking inhibits lying behavior,and the other is that people with counterfactual thinking tendencies and abilities are more likely to lie.However,there is no research on the influence of counterfactual thinking on lying behavior in school-age children.It is of great significance for parents and teachers to intervene in the development of counterfactual thinking and lying in children in the future.Therefore,this study aims to discover and explore the influence of children’s counterfactual thinking on their lying behavior.In the study 1,the counterfactual thought experiment task paradigm and the“spinner game” experimental task paradigm were used to test whether school-age children’s lying behavior was related to their cued counterfactual thinking.The study of 155 children aged 9 to 12 found that those with high counterfactual thinking skills were less likely to lie.The study 2 aims to further explore the relationship between spontaneous counterfactual thinking and lying in children.In the pre-experiment,the open answer was used to investigate the spontaneous counterfactual thinking of school-age children in the story situation,which was coded as upward and downward counterfactual thinking,and the lying behavior was investigated by asking questions about the relevant situation in the story.The formal experiment further distinguishes the nature of events in the story,provides sufficient conditions for spontaneous upward and downward counterfactual thinking,and examines children’s lying behavior by asking questions about relevant situations in the story.In study 2,260 children aged 9 to 12 years were examined,and the results of study 1 were verified.However,spontaneous upward or downward counterfactual thinking was not found to be related to lying.In conclusion,children’s cued counterfactual thinking can predict children’s lying behavior,children with better counterfactual thinking skills are less likely to lie;Children’s spontaneous upward and downward counterfactual thinking is not associated with children’s lying.This study fills the gap of previous studies on the relationship between counterfactual thinking and lying behavior of school-age children,which is helpful to promote teachers’ daily teaching activities,helps parents correctly guide children’s counterfactual thinking and promote children’s development.