Medical X-Press – Staff Writer
“Even if they believe they could be punished, older kids are more likely than younger children to view confessing to a misdeed as the right thing to do. And kids of all ages who anticipate that a parent would feel happy about a child’s confession—even if they might be punished for the misdeed—are more likely to come forward rather than conceal transgressions, according to a new study from the University of Michigan. The goal of the study was to investigate the emotions that children associate with lying and confessing. The study also tested whether these emotions were connected to children’s tendencies to confess or cover up misdeeds in real world situations, said Craig Smith, research investigator at the U-M Center for Human Growth and Development.”(more)