When Honesty Meets Modesty: Development of Evaluations on Lying About Achievements

Abstract

Lying about achievements is commonplace in reputation management, yet its social consequences may depend on cultural conventions. The present research examined how Chinese children aged 5–11 years (N = 173, 48% girls, M_age: 8.40 years) and adults (N = 98, 52% women, M_age: 20.76 years) evaluated truth-tellers and lie-tellers who described their achievements in ways that either violated or aligned with the Chinese cultural convention of modesty. When lying violated modesty conventions (Study 1A), both children and adults consistently preferred truth-tellers over lie-tellers in evaluations and behavioral preferences; these preferences were unrelated to individuals’ understanding of modesty. When lying aligned with modesty conventions (Study 1B and Study 2), children and adults overall still preferred truth-tellers over lie-tellers; however, among individuals who correctly identified the lie-teller as more modest than the truth-teller, preferences for truth-tellers were attenuated. Moreover, when lying signaled modesty, children's age was positively associated with preferences for truth-tellers only among those who incorrectly identified which protagonist was more modest, but not among children who correctly identified the lie-teller as more modest. Together, these findings demonstrate that preferences for honesty emerge early and remain stable across development, but are flexibly shaped by modesty conventions and individuals’ understanding of those conventions.

Summary

• Children and adults consistently preferred truth-tellers over lie-tellers when lying violated cultural modesty conventions.
• Preferences for honesty remained robust even when lying aligned with modesty conventions, but were attenuated among individuals recognizing modest intent.
• Individuals’ understanding of modesty moderated evaluations of honesty, indicating that cultural conventions shape social evaluations beyond simple truth-lie distinctions.