This research examined the link between persistence and cheating in 3‐ to 6‐year‐old children (2021–2022, N = 200, 100 boys; Mage = 4.85 years; all middle‐class Han Chinese). Study 1 used a challenging game to measure whether children would cheat when they were allowed to play the game unsupervised. Results indicated that children's situational, but not trait, persistence negatively correlated with cheating: the higher children's situational persistence, the less likely they cheated. Study 2 not only replicated the results of Study 1 but also discovered that children who cheated became less persistent afterward. Our research reveals a novel bidirectional relation between situational persistence and cheating and underscores the importance of nurturing persistence in early childhood as a strategy to foster honesty.

中文翻译：

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幼儿坚持与作弊之间的双向负相关关系


这项研究调查了 3 至 6 岁儿童的坚持和作弊之间的联系（2021 年至 2022 年，N = 200，100 名男孩；Mage = 4.85 岁；均为汉族中产阶级）。研究 1 使用具有挑战性的游戏来衡量孩子们在无人监督的情况下玩游戏时是否会作弊。结果表明，儿童的情境持久性（而非特质）与作弊呈负相关：儿童的情境持久性越高，作弊的可能性就越小。研究2不仅重复了研究1的结果，而且还发现作弊的孩子后来变得不那么坚持了。我们的研究揭示了情境坚持与作弊之间的一种新颖的双向关系，并强调了在幼儿期培养坚持作为培养诚实的策略的重要性。