One of the most important aspects of children's social development is their understanding of the role of honesty in relationships, which is primarily influenced by their parents (Lavoie et al., 2017; Setoh et al., 2020). A specific parenting practice that may shape children's honesty is parenting by lying, which refers to parents' use of deception typically to elicit children's conformity (Heyman et al., 2009).
This study aims to examine the relationship between parenting by lying and several individual and contextual factors, such as lie acceptability, parents' socialization of lying, parents' practices and socialization goals for their children, and religiosity in a French population. It also explores the frequency and types of lies more commonly used among French parents.
Participants are parents of children aged 5 to 12. Data are being collected through an online questionnaire comprising six scales. Parenting by lying is assessed using a modified version of Jackson's (2021) scale. Socialization of honesty is measured using the Revised Socialization of Lying scale (Talwar et al., 2022), whereas lie acceptability is evaluated with the Lie Acceptability scale (Oliveira & Levine, 2008). Parental socialization goals are assessed with the Goals and Values in Adulthood Scale (Suizzo, 2007). We also evaluate parental practices using the short parental EMBU questionnaire (Castro et al., 1997), cultural values with the Singelis (1994) scale, and religious practices with the DUREL (Duke University Religion Index; Koening & Bussing, 2010). Participants are being recruited via social media, posters in public settings (schools, sports establishments, etc.), and snowball sampling. The target sample size is at least 150 parents.
Data collection is ongoing, and preliminary analyses will be available by the time of the conference. This study will provide the first empirical evidence on parenting by lying in France, highlighting how cultural and individual factors relate to this parenting practice.