CHINESE AND CANADIAN CHILDRENS EVALUATIONS OF LYING AND TRUTH TELLING- SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN THE CONTEXT OF PROSOCIAL AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIORS

The present study compared Chinese and Canadian children's moral evalu ations of lie and truth telling in situations involving pro-and antiso cial behaviors. Seven-, 9-, and Ii-year-old Chinese and Canadian child ren were presented 4 brief stories. Two stories involved a child who i ntentionally carried out a good deed, and the other 2 stories involved a child who intentionally carried out a bad deed. When story characte rs were questioned by a teacher as to who had committed the deed, they either lied or told the truth. Children were asked to evaluate the st ory characters' deeds and their verbal statements. Overall, Chinese ch ildren rated truth telling less positively and Lie telling more positi vely in prosocial settings than Canadian children, indicating that the emphasis on self-effacement and modesty in Chinese culture overrides Chinese children's evaluations of lying in some situations. Both Chine se and Canadian children rated truth telling positively and lie tellin g negatively in antisocial situations, reflecting the emphasis in both cultures on the distinction between misdeed and truth/lie telling. Th e findings of the present study suggest that, in the realm of lying an d truth telling, a close relation between sociocultural practices and moral judgment exists. Specific social and cultural norms have an impa ct on children's developing moral judgments, which, in rum, are modifi ed by age and experience in a particular culture.