Episode Details

Kids notice more than parents think, and new research from McGill University shows that when children see parental honesty and behaviour fall out of alignment, their moral reasoning shifts in measurable ways. Emilie Bélanger, PhD student at the School of Applied Child Psychology, brings findings that hit close to home for anyone who has ever faked a smile over a gift they hated with a child in the room.

The research zeroes in on inconsistent messages: what happens when a parent says one thing about honesty and then does another. It turns out children not only notice the gap, they evaluate it negatively, and that evaluation shapes how they think about truth-telling going forward.

The takeaway is not about eliminating white lies. It is about closing the distance between what you tell your kids and what they actually see you do.

Topics: parental honesty, children lying, moral development, parent modelling, white lies

GUEST: Emilie Bélanger | http://talwarresearch.com

Originally aired on 2026-06-19