Cross-cultural differences in children’s judgments of truth-telling and lying about charitable giving

This study examined the relation between cultural context and theory of mind (ToM) and children’s moral evaluations of truth-telling and lying about charitable giving. Canadian (n = 121; Mage = 10.08 years, SD = 2.59 years) and Persian (n = 100; Mage = 9.98 years, SD = 2.23 years) children aged 6–14 completed ToM tasks and rated 16 vignettes depicting truth-telling or lying about donating to child-welfare or animal-welfare charities, with information receivers counter-balanced between friends and teachers. Across samples, truth-telling was judged more positively than lying. Cultural differences emerged as Canadian children valued honesty, whereas Persian children were more accepting of lying to cover charitable giving. There were also significant differences according to the identity of the information recipient, with Persian participants judging lies to teachers more harshly than lies to friends. Higher ToM scores and age were modestly associated with stronger preferences for truth-telling. Findings demonstrate how cultural norms, relational contexts, and social-cognitive development shape children’s moral reasoning, with implications for moral education.