Social and non-social fear in preschoolers and prospective associations with lying about cheating

Little is known about the development of children’s lying. The present study examined whether observed social and non-social fear in preschoolers predicts children’s consistent cheating ( N = 460; M = 4.3 years of age) and consistent lying about cheating. When left alone, 155 (34%) children cheated in both games conducted. Of these consistently cheating children, 54 (35%) children lied about their cheating after both games, whereas the remaining...