The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of children's gender, temperament and parental discipline style on lying. A sample of 150 preschool children aged 4 to 6 attending kindergartens and nurseries in Seoul and Gyoung-gi Do, and their pa...
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of children's gender, temperament and parental discipline style on lying. A sample of 150 preschool children aged 4 to 6 attending kindergartens and nurseries in Seoul and Gyoung-gi Do, and their parents participated in the present study. Preschoolers' lying was measured by the Guessing Game Experiment of Oh et al.(2008), which was adjusted from Talwar and Lee(2002)'s Experiment to the domestic circumstances. Children's fearfulness was measured by Jo's(2009) scale that was adjusted from the children's temperament scale(Children Behavior Questionnaires: CBQ) of Rothbart(1993), and impulsivity and inhibitory control were measured by using impulsivity and inhibitory control factors among the CBQ of Rothbart(1993). The disciplinary method was measured by using Lee's(2003) scale that was adapted from the PSD(Parenting Style and Dimensions) of Calzada and Eyberg(2002). Data were analyzed by binomial logistic regression analysis.
The main results of the present study were as follows:
Children's age conducted as the covariate. First, the gender differences in children's lying were significant. Girls were more likely to lie than boys. Second, relatively more fearful boys lied more, whereas none of temperamental factors contributed to girls' lying. Third, boys' lying increased when mother used more reasoning while carried less coercive punishment. For girls, however, maternal discipline style had no significant effects on lying. Paternal discipline style had no significant impacts on both boys and girls' lying. Finally, temperamental fearfulness had the strongest impacts on lying among gender, temperament, and parental discipline style.
The present research examined predictors of children's lying by investigating children's gender, temperament and parental discipline style. Maternal discipline style had grater effects on children's lying than paternal one. In addition, the result that both child's temperament and maternal disciplinary method had different impacts on lying for girls and boys, thus it implicated that gender moderated the impacts of both temperament and parent's discipline on lying. Finally, it emphasized temperamental critical roles in child's lying.
The present study holds the academic and pragmatic significance in broadening the understanding of preschooler's lying which may cause emotional and behavioral problems in the future.