To lie or not to lie: The role of costs and benefits in children’s decision-making

For adults, adolescents, and preadolescents, deciding whether to lie or tell the truth is preceded by an analysis of the consequent material costs and benefits for themselves and the recipient. However, unlike older individuals, preadolescents prioritize their own gains and losses over those of others. In this study, we aimed to discover whether primary school-aged children also engage in such analyses. We studied 52 children aged 6-10 years old while engaged in a modified sender-receiver game in which we manipulated the payoff rates for the sender and receiver of a message. Children were more likely to lie for their own or mutual benefit than for the benefit of another player. There was no difference between the lying rates when both parties gained from lying and when lying benefited only the liar. Our findings suggest that, similar to preadolescents, children's decisions to lie or to be truthful rely more on the consequent costs and benefits for themselves than those for the recipients of their messages.