Parents have long suspected that their own behaviour carries more weight than what they say to their children. A study involving more than 100 children now confirms this, at least with respect to lying and truthfulness.

A team of researchers from McGill University and John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City presented 127 children ages 5 to 12 with stories illustrating various situations, and then asked them to evaluate the moral character of a parent whose verbal messages and actions were either in harmony or in conflict.

Results show that, when facing inconsistency between a parent’s words and deeds, children leaned more on the parent’s actions to predict how another child would act, rather than the parent’s words. They also evaluated inconsistent parents more negatively.

The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, highlights the importance of everyday interactions in shaping not only children’s moral development, but also how they see their parents and educators.

Emilie Bélanger is a PhD student in the School and Applied Child Psychology program and the lead author of the study. She is available for interviews in French.

emilie.belanger2 [at] mail.mcgill.ca

Victoria Talwar is a professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and the senior author of the study. She is available for interviews in English.

victoria.talwar [at] mcgill.ca