TO BE HONEST OR POLITE - WHAT CHILDREN TH INK ABOUT WHITE LIES

This study investigates how children think about conflicts between sta ndards of honesty and politeness exemplified in the case of white lies . Individual interviews were carried out with 73 6- to 10-year-old chi ldren about which interaction strategy (honesty or white lie) they wou ld choose in a hypothetical situation of a picture story, about the ju stification of their choices, and their concept of politeness. With ag e children increasingly relativize their standards of honesty and rake situational aspects (status differences between adults and children; familiariaty between parties) into account. At the same time their con cept of politeness tends to change from adapted prosocial behavior req uiring honesty to more flexible considerate behavior with room for whi te lies. This trend was stronger for girls than for boys. Results are discussed within the framework of perspective-taking.