New Study Reveals Children Who Tell Lies at Age Two More Likely to be Successful Adults

From the earliest age, we’ve all been taught not to lie. Our parents would punish us for every little fib they catch us telling until the lesson sinks into our very bones. Lying is bad.

Always be truthful.

Shockingly, a new study has surfaced showing lying isn’t all that we’ve thought it to be. Evidence has found children who start lying at an early age are more likely to be successful as they grow up!

According to researchers at the Institute of Child Study at the Toronto University in Canada, parents shouldn’t be alarmed if their child tells a fib.

Not as bad as we think it is?

Dr. Kang Lee, the department’s director who headed the study sums it up this way:

“Almost all children lie. Those who have better cognitive development lie better because they can cover up their tracks. They may make bankers in later life.”

The research looked into how telling lies involves the use of multiple brain processes. Children as young as two integrate several sources of information and manipulate the data to their advantage.

This process is linked to the development of the brain’s “executive functioning,” and employs the use of higher order thinking and reasoning.

Dr. Lee and his team tested a total of 1,200 children aged between 2 to 16 years old. Most of the subjects told lies, and the researchers found that children with better cognitive abilities told the best lies.

Future banker?

According to Dr. Kang, by the age of two, 20 percent of all children lie. This percentage rises to 50 percent at age three, and nearly 90 percent when they reach four.

The study found out that children are at their most deceitful at the age of 12, when almost every child tells lies. However, this tendency decreases by the age of 16, when lying falls off by 70 percent.

Kids grow out of lying eventually.

By the time they reach adulthood, the untruths become less harmful “white lies,” employed to avoid hurting other people’s feelings.

Further, the study found no link that childhood fibs relate to cheating in exams or future fraud. Strict parenting and a religious upbringing doesn’t have any impact on lying, either.

According to Dr. Lee, parents who catch their children lying shouldn’t immediately punish their child, but use the opportunity to make it a “teachable moment” instead.

Teach, not preach.

In conclusion, the researchers found lying in children is a creative thing that uses different brain processes, particularly its executive functions.

It employs reasoning, as well as fast thinking that can enhance their cognitive development, which eventually leads to success as adults.