Elaad Eitan, Bracha Yakir, Avraham Hodaya, Rabi Chen, Katzin Talya
Department of Psychology, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jun 18;16:1541248. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1541248. eCollection 2025.
The present study aimed to demonstrate lying to older adults by young and mid-life participants in the Ultimatum Game (UG). Another goal was to reexamine the Self-Reported Lying Scale (SRLS), validate the short Hebrew version of the need for cognition scale (NCS-6), and show how they predict lying in the present experimental conditions.
We allocated 379 examinees (196 women) to six experimental conditions in a 2 × 3 factorial design. Two participant's age conditions (young and middle-aged) and three receiver's age conditions (25, 50, and 70 years). Participants underwent a UG where they were permitted to conceal part of the endowment from the receiving woman. They then shared the remaining money with the receiver. Finally, participants completed the SRLS and the NCS-6.
Participants (mainly young) tended to evaluate an older woman less favorably than younger versions of that woman. Young participants concealed more of their endowment than mid-life participants. Young participants were more generous than their mid-life counterparts when sharing the remaining endowment with the older woman. Hiding a more significant part of the endowment while offering a fairer share of the remaining award (Fake Fairness) was observed for young participants. Fake Fairness to the older woman by younger participants was more significant than the receiver's younger variations. The SRLS global score and four subscales predicted participants' lying in the UG. NCS-6 prediction of lying was also significant, although less efficient than the SRLS.
The present study aimed to examine ageism by lying to an older woman in the UG. Indeed, young participants lied more to an older receiver than to younger versions of that receiver, whereas mid-life participants did not. We suggest that mid-life participants prepare themselves psychologically to join an older community and, therefore, are more tolerant toward older people than their younger counterparts. Young participants scored higher on the SRLS and lied more in the UG than mid-life participants. The present study contributes to a better understanding of the different approaches to lying by young and mid-life people. Young participants were relatively free to consider lying and behaving deceptively, whereas mid-life participants restricted their lying behavior and attitudes toward lying.
本研究旨在揭示年轻人和中年人在最后通牒博弈（UG）中对老年人说谎的情况。另一个目标是重新审视自我报告说谎量表（SRLS），验证认知需求量表简短希伯来语版本（NCS - 6）的有效性，并展示它们如何在当前实验条件下预测说谎行为。
我们采用2×3析因设计将379名受试者（196名女性）分配到六个实验条件中。两个参与者年龄条件（年轻和中年）以及三个接收者年龄条件（25岁、50岁和70岁）。参与者进行了一次最后通牒博弈，在此过程中他们可以向接收方女性隐瞒部分捐赠资金。然后他们与接收者分享剩余的钱。最后，参与者完成SRLS和NCS - 6量表。
参与者（主要是年轻人）往往对老年女性的评价不如对该女性年轻版本的评价好。年轻参与者比中年参与者隐瞒了更多的捐赠资金。在与老年女性分享剩余捐赠资金时，年轻参与者比中年参与者更慷慨。年轻参与者存在隐藏更多捐赠资金同时对剩余奖励给出更公平份额（虚假公平）的情况。年轻参与者对老年女性的虚假公平比对接收者年轻版本的虚假公平更显著。SRLS的总分和四个子量表预测了参与者在最后通牒博弈中的说谎行为。NCS - 6对说谎行为的预测也具有显著性，尽管不如SRLS有效。
本研究旨在通过在最后通牒博弈中对老年女性说谎来检验年龄歧视。事实上，年轻参与者对老年接收者比对该接收者的年轻版本说谎更多，而中年参与者则不然。我们认为中年参与者在心理上为融入老年群体做好了准备，因此比年轻参与者对老年人更宽容。年轻参与者在SRLS上得分更高，并且在最后通牒博弈中比中年参与者说谎更多。本研究有助于更好地理解年轻人和中年人说谎的不同方式。年轻参与者在考虑说谎和欺骗行为时相对比较随意，而中年参与者则限制了他们的说谎行为以及对说谎的态度。
