이 연구는 한국의 3, 4, 5세 유아를 대상으로 친사회적 거짓말이 연령과 성별에 따라 유의한 차이가 있는지, 친사회적 거짓말의 정당화 방식은 연령과 성별에 따라 유의한 차이가 있는지 알아보았다· 또한 유아의 정서적 불편함 및 도덕적 규제, 기질, 훈육방식이 친사회적 거짓말과 어떠한 관련이 있는지 살펴보았다· 이상의 연구문제를 검증하기 위하여 서울, 경기, 충남, 부산에 거주하는 만 3, 4, 5세 유아 94명을 대상으로 일대일 면접 방식을 통해 친사회적 거짓말 상황 과제 5가지를 실시하여 거짓말 여부와 거짓말 이유에 대한 정당화 방식을 측정했다· 또한 어머니 설문지를 통해 해당 유아의 정서적 불편함 및 도덕적 규제, 기질, 훈육방식을 알아보았다· 연구결과 5세 유아는 3, 4세 유아에 비해 친사회적 거짓말을 말하기보다 사실대로 말하는 경향을 보였으며, 연령이 증가함에 따라 친사회적 거짓말의 정당화 방식이 정교해지고 타인 지향적인 경향을 보였다· 또한 유아의 친사회적 거짓말은 정서적 불편함과 부적인 관련이 나타났다· 따라서 이 연구는 한국 유아가 3세에서도 친사회적 거짓말을 할 수 있으며, 5세로 갈수록 보다 정교하고 타인 지향적으로 발달한다는 연령 효과를 밝혔으며, 친사회적 거짓말이 도덕성의 정서적 측면과 관련이 있음을 입증했다.
This study examines three things: (1) the differences, by age and gender, in frequencies of children’s use of prosocial lies, (2) the differences, by age and gender, of children’s justifications for prosocial lying, and (3) the relationships between children’s prosocial lies and affective discomfort, moral regulation, temperament, and mother’s disciplinary methods. Study participants, who consisted of 94 three- to five-year-old children, were selected from daycare centers in Seoul, Gyong-gi province, Chungnam province, and Busan. Children performed five prosocial lie tasks individually to examine lie-telling behaviors and their justifications. The five tasks included picture-like doodles, unappetizing cookies, ugly face, strange face photo, and undesired gift tasks. Children’s mothers were asked to respond to questionnaires to investigate children’s affective discomfort, moral regulation, temperament, and mother’s disciplinary methods. For data analysis, the study used statistical methods including frequency, percentile, mean, standard deviation, ANOVA, MANOVA, t-test, Pearson’s correlation, and test. Major findings are as follows:Significant differences were found by age in the frequency of children’s use of prosocial lies. Five-year olds showed a greater tendency to tell the truth than did their three and four year-old counterparts. Significant differences were found by age in children’s use of justifications for prosocial lie-telling. Three-year olds told more prosocial lies for self-oriented purposes, while five-year olds told more lies for the welfare of others. A significant negative correlation was found between the frequency of children’s prosocial lying and their affective discomfort score. The more frequently children told prosocial lies, the lower their affective discomfort scores. The results reveal that children’s prosocial lying has developmental tendencies from self to others, and the frequency for prosocial lying decreases with age. Furthermore, this study suggests that the affective discomfort of children is related to children’s prosocial lies.