Unethical behavior in children

Despoina Alempaki

Chapter 3 in Research Handbook on Unethical Behavior, 2026, pp 28-44 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Extensive research has established that many adults have a preference for honesty, contrary to the standard economic assumption. In recent years, a burgeoning literature has emerged to examine how this preference forms and develops in children. This chapter presents an overview of this literature within the realm of behavioral economics. It begins with a review of studies investigating the most important determinants of truth-telling preferences. The chapter then discusses potential policy interventions aimed at promoting honesty from a young age and concludes by outlining avenues for future research.

Keywords: Unethical behavior; Dishonesty; Children; Behavioral economics; Experimental economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035307265
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035307272.00009 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22091_3

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().