The Effect of Punishment Threat on Children's Ability to Resist Temptation to Transgress and Lie

Children's response to a resistance-to-temptation (RTT) task was investigated under three punishment threat conditions: negative consequence, removing an anticipated reward, and no explicit punishment. Ninety first and second graders participated in the RTT task and seventy-three parents completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children and the Psychopathy Screening Device. As only 4% of children transgressed, results are unclear. Hypotheses tested using approximations of transgression showed no differences in RTT. Children with temperaments characterized by hyperactivity, impulsivity, attention problems, and conduct problems (HIA-CP) had the highest levels of psychopathic traits compared to all others. In addition, spanked children were rated as having significantly more behavioral problems than non-spanked children. Limitations of the current study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2001

Author dc:creator

• Collins, Michelle

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kaminski, Patricia L.
• Neumann, Craig S.
• Ramos, Vincent
• Harrell, Ernest
• Burggren, Warren W.

• Truthfulness and falsehood in children.
• Punishment (Psychology)
• Temptation.
• punishment threat
• children
• resistance to temptation
• lying
• compliance

Statement dc:rights

• Use restricted to UNT Community
• Copyright
• Collins, Michelle
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 52005922
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3018/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc3018

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc3018