Reputation and Prosocial Lying in Early Childhood: The Role of Urban Versus Rural Cultural Context

ABSTRACT

Children begin to tell antisocial lies by 2.5 years of age; however, prosocial lies do not emerge until around 4 years. What may account for this developmental gap? This study tested whether reputational concern may contribute to the ontogeny of prosocial lying. One hundred and fifty‐one children aged 4–7 years were randomly assigned to either a reputation‐prime or a no‐prime condition and were tested using a novel, repeated‐measure task designed to elicit prosocial lying. Children were recruited from a metropolitan city and a rural community in the United States to examine whether urban vs. rural contexts may also influence prosocial lying. Results revealed that the reputation‐prime appeared to increase prosocial lying in urban children, but it had the opposite effect in rural children, indicating that the effect of reputation on children's prosocial lying may depend on urban vs. rural aspects of cultural context. Additionally, children became increasingly likely to lie over successive trials, suggesting that prosocial lying may have a self‐reinforcing effect.