How Does Telling Lies Develop?
Before age 3, most children lack the necessary skills to lie.
Somewhere between the ages of 3 and 8 though, a lot of children become startlingly proficient at telling lies.
A group of 3-year olds were seated in a room and told not to peek at a toy placed just out of sight while the adults left the room.
When they were later asked if they had peeked, only about half of the kids attempted to lie.
This was repeated with 7-year olds, the majority of the kids avoided telling the truth.
At first, children lie because they can.
They reach a point developmentally where they realize that they can say something that is not true.
These lies are not a sign of moral failures in either the parent or the child.
By age 7 or 8, most children lie for two reasons.
One is to dodge punishment and to remain in your good graces.
Children figure out that if they say they did not do something, they may be able to avoid consequences.
Older children are also better than the younger ones at reading human emotion and predicting your reaction.
Since most of the children want to make their parents happy, their lies may be a misguided attempt to provide the right answer The kid who tells you that he did not break the vase, even in the presence of a broken vase, is just telling you what you want to hear.
He know you would be upset about the vase, so he makes up a lies to make you happy.
Ironically, kids of strict parents are actually more likely to lie than kids who come from a more laid back home.
A child who knows that he get spanked for doing wrong may feel motivated to lie more often and he may become more skilled at it, because he knows getting caught will lead to punishment.
When it comes to telling the truth, when a child matures and ages you will see the lies become less frequent.
This is a result of more mature kids learning responsibility and being accountable for their actions.
If your youngster is telling lies, don't panic.
He will most like grow out of this phase with the help of his parents setting the right moral values.
Keep in mind that kids see and remember everything, so if you are going to tell a lie yourself be sure that your children are not around.
If you don't you are sending the message to them that it is perfectly fine to tell a lie.
The experiment in this article was performed by Parent & Child.
Somewhere between the ages of 3 and 8 though, a lot of children become startlingly proficient at telling lies.
A group of 3-year olds were seated in a room and told not to peek at a toy placed just out of sight while the adults left the room.
When they were later asked if they had peeked, only about half of the kids attempted to lie.
This was repeated with 7-year olds, the majority of the kids avoided telling the truth.
At first, children lie because they can.
They reach a point developmentally where they realize that they can say something that is not true.
These lies are not a sign of moral failures in either the parent or the child.
By age 7 or 8, most children lie for two reasons.
One is to dodge punishment and to remain in your good graces.
Children figure out that if they say they did not do something, they may be able to avoid consequences.
Older children are also better than the younger ones at reading human emotion and predicting your reaction.
Since most of the children want to make their parents happy, their lies may be a misguided attempt to provide the right answer The kid who tells you that he did not break the vase, even in the presence of a broken vase, is just telling you what you want to hear.
He know you would be upset about the vase, so he makes up a lies to make you happy.
Ironically, kids of strict parents are actually more likely to lie than kids who come from a more laid back home.
A child who knows that he get spanked for doing wrong may feel motivated to lie more often and he may become more skilled at it, because he knows getting caught will lead to punishment.
When it comes to telling the truth, when a child matures and ages you will see the lies become less frequent.
This is a result of more mature kids learning responsibility and being accountable for their actions.
If your youngster is telling lies, don't panic.
He will most like grow out of this phase with the help of his parents setting the right moral values.
Keep in mind that kids see and remember everything, so if you are going to tell a lie yourself be sure that your children are not around.
If you don't you are sending the message to them that it is perfectly fine to tell a lie.
The experiment in this article was performed by Parent & Child.
