RESEARCH ARTICLE
The role of empathy in children's costly prosocial lie-telling behaviour
Pooja Megha Nagar,
Oksana Caivano,
Victoria Talwar,
Corresponding Author
Pooja Megha Nagar
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Correspondence
Pooja Megha Nagar, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 3700 McTavish Street, Montreal, QC H3A 1Y2, Canada.
Email: megha.nagar@mail.mcgill.ca
Search for more papers by this authorOksana Caivano
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorVictoria Talwar
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorPooja Megha Nagar,
Oksana Caivano,
Victoria Talwar,
Corresponding Author
Pooja Megha Nagar
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Correspondence
Pooja Megha Nagar, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 3700 McTavish Street, Montreal, QC H3A 1Y2, Canada.
Email: megha.nagar@mail.mcgill.ca
Search for more papers by this authorOksana Caivano
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorVictoria Talwar
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
The aim of the present study was to examine the role of induced empathy and parent-reported empathy (i.e., affective and cognitive) as underlying motives for children's prosocial lie-telling tendencies. An experimental paradigm was used to elicit prosocial lies in children (N = 146, 7–11 years) in varying cost (low-cost/high-cost) and induction (empathy/neutral) conditions. Results indicate that induced empathy predicts prosocial lie likelihood and maintenance in low-cost conditions, and that cognitive empathy is a predictor of lie-likelihood. Post-hoc analyses revealed that a large portion of children chose to prosocially share with the distressed confederate, regardless of whether they lied for them. Individuals who shared were more likely to share in low-cost conditions, and also had higher cognitive empathy. Overall, this study provides unique insights into the role of empathy as an underlying cognitive process for children's prosocial decision-making.
Highlights
- The role of empathy was examined in relation to children's prosocial lying and sharing behaviour in low- and high-cost conditions.
- Parent-reported cognitive empathy predicted both lying and sharing in an experimental paradigm; induced empathy only predicted lying in low-cost conditions.
- Overall, empathy proved to be an important underlying motive for children's prosocial decision-making.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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