Zhejiang Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory for Research in Early Development and Childcare, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, PR China.
Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, PR China.
Dev Sci. 2024 Nov;27(6):e13540. doi: 10.1111/desc.13540. Epub 2024 Jun 19.
Three preregistered studies examined whether 5-year-old children cheat consistently or remain honest across multiple math tests. We observed high consistency in both honesty and cheating. All children who cheated on the first test continued cheating on subsequent tests, with shorter cheating latencies over time. In contrast, 77% of initially honest children maintained honesty despite repeated failure to complete the tests successfully. A brief integrity intervention helped initially honest children remain honest but failed to dissuade initially cheating children from cheating. These findings demonstrate that cheating emerges early and persists strongly in young children, underscoring the importance of early prevention efforts. They also suggest that bolstering honesty from the start may be more effective than attempting to remedy cheating after it has occurred. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Our research examines whether 5-year-old children, once they have started cheating, will continue to do so consistently. We also investigate whether 5-year-old children who are initially honest will continue to be honest subsequently. We discovered high consistency in both honesty and cheating among 5-year-old children. Almost all the children who initially cheated continued this behavior, while those who were honest stayed honest. A brief integrity-boosting intervention successfully helped 5-year-old children maintain their honesty. However, the same intervention failed to deter cheaters from cheating again. These findings underscore the importance of implementing integrity intervention as early as possible, potentially before children have had their first experience of cheating.
三项预先注册的研究考察了 5 岁儿童在多次数学测试中是否始终作弊或保持诚实。我们观察到诚实和作弊都具有高度的一致性。所有在第一次测试中作弊的儿童都继续在后续测试中作弊，随着时间的推移，作弊的潜伏期越来越短。相比之下，77%的最初诚实的儿童尽管多次未能成功完成测试，但仍保持诚实。简短的诚信干预帮助最初诚实的儿童保持诚实，但未能阻止最初作弊的儿童继续作弊。这些发现表明，作弊在幼儿中很早就出现，并强烈持续存在，强调了早期预防工作的重要性。它们还表明，从一开始就增强诚实可能比在作弊发生后试图纠正作弊更为有效。研究亮点：我们的研究考察了 5 岁儿童一旦开始作弊，是否会持续一致地作弊。我们还调查了最初诚实的 5 岁儿童是否会随后继续保持诚实。我们发现，5 岁儿童在诚实和作弊方面都具有高度的一致性。几乎所有最初作弊的儿童都继续这种行为，而那些诚实的儿童则保持诚实。简短的诚信增强干预成功地帮助 5 岁儿童保持诚实。然而，同样的干预措施并不能阻止作弊者再次作弊。这些发现强调了尽早实施诚信干预的重要性，可能在儿童首次作弊之前就实施。
