​Do the ‘harmless' lies parents tell children have an impact on their emotional well-being?

A study carried out by researchers at Singapore's NTU suggests that parents' lies may have repercussions for their children's mental health, including into adulthood. The research, done in collaboration with Canada's University of Toronto, the United States' University of California, San Diego, and China's Zhejiang Normal University, was published in the The Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. The study's authors noted that the adults whose parents seemed to have lied to them frequently were more likely to adopt intrusive, even manipulative, behavior. "Authority assertion over children is a form of psychological intrusiveness, which may undermine children's sense of autonomy and convey rejection, ultimately undermining children's emotional well-being. Future research should examine the nature of the lies and goals of the parents so that researchers can suggest what kind of lies to avoid, and what kind of truth-telling parents should engage in," suggested Asst Prof Peipei Setoh of NTU Singapore's School of Social Sciences, the study's lead author.