#Honesty

Telling small white lies to children — from claiming the tablet is “broken” to insisting ice cream trucks only play music when out of ice cream — is a parenting tactic familiar to many. While these fibs often seem harmless and sometimes feel like necessary tools for exhausted parents, new international research warns that such deception can carry significant unintended consequences for a child’s trust and honesty, even shaping their behavior well into adolescence and adulthood.

A newly published study from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is making waves by suggesting that individuals who cheat once are significantly more likely to repeat their dishonest behaviour—contradicting the longstanding belief that cheating is merely a one-time error in judgment rather than a trait embedded in a person’s character. This finding has important implications for understanding dishonesty in everyday life and raises new questions for Thai readers about how trust and integrity function in both personal and professional relationships.

Affect overrules virtue—recent psychological research is challenging the long-standing belief that honesty, warmth, and compassion are universally valued traits in leaders and individuals, showing that emotional appeal can be equally, if not more, persuasive. This finding holds sobering lessons for Thai society and global democracies, as new evidence reveals why these virtues sometimes take a back seat to style, energy, and emotional resonance.

For years, trustworthiness and empathy were seen as essential personal qualities, especially in politics and public life. According to recent scholarly work such as that cited by Psychology Today, qualities like honesty and caring once formed the bedrock of how leaders were judged and supported, shaping everything from workplace relationships to voter decisions (psychologytoday.com). However, as new evidence and expert commentary suggest, affective—or emotional—impact now increasingly sways opinions, sometimes eclipsing the importance of fact-checking and moral consistency.

A recent discussion on common parenting strategies has resurfaced in the spotlight, revealing how many parents deploy “white lies” as a means to encourage good behavior in children. The approach is widespread not only across Western nations but also within Thai families—sparking new interest among experts in child development as they debate the long-term effects of these seemingly harmless fibs. As Thailand’s younger generation continues to face mounting pressures in academic and social spheres, understanding the psychology behind these parental tactics becomes ever more important.