Parent reported child deception: the online preschooler lie scale (OPLS)

Abstract

Generally viewed as a negative behavior, child lying is a cognitive accomplishment that requires awareness of others’ thinking. In developing a measure of the breadth of a child’s lie repertoire, we recruited an online, diverse, cross-cultural sample of 179 parents to answer questions about family demographics, parent personality, and the types of lies told by their child. Nine items that were internally consistent and positively correlated with age were summed to create the Online Preschooler Lie Scale score. OPLS scores’ developmental identity remained evident even in the face of many competing demographic factors. The breadth of a child’s lying repertoire is a marker for developmental advance, and it can be assessed with convenient online methods.