Paternalistic deception

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Paternalistic deception is a type of deception that is ostensibly performed for the deceived individual's good by a person assuming a paternalistic role, whether they are their actual parent or not. [1] The most used form of paternalistic deception are paternalist lies. [2] They are told by an individual, a group, or an institution with the intent of benefitting the target lied to by sparing their feelings or preventing them from experiencing psychological harm. [3] As they are justified by the assumption that they are in the target's best interest, they are a subset of prosocial lies. [4] They can occur through omissions, half-truths, or white lies. [2] Paternalistic lies can be manipulative, [5] however their key feature involves the interference with the target's autonomy. [5] This is induced by denying them access to accurate information [6] and by limiting their behaviour choices. [5] Confrontations with paternalistic lies can begin in early childhood and continue throughout an individual's life. [2]

Contents

Issues

Paternalistic lies are rooted in subjective assumptions, which can solely predict the target's preferences. [4] Several studies show that targets judge paternalistic lies harshly because they perceive their autonomy to have been violated. [4] The underlying reason is the belief in the right to know the truth. [4] Instead, targets see paternalistic lies as an attempt to influence or coerce them through trust, as they may not have chosen the outcome for themselves [4] or to impose an assumed superior framework of the world to the reality shaped by the truth. The lie-teller always overestimates beneficial aspects and minimizes the potential harm of the lie, resulting in a more favourable attitude. [4] Targets, however, end up questioning the underlying benevolent intentions of the lie-teller because of the liars' subjective judgements and the consequent interference with their autonomy. [4]

Moreover, if the deceived individual discovers they have been lied to, it can induce emotional responses such as mild disappointment, hurt, anger, or complete betrayal. [6] Since paternalistic liars are perceived as inaccurately predicting the target's preferences, this can lead to reactance such as the derogation of the deceiver or a decrease in the outcomes' attractiveness due to the nature of it being a lie. [4] The target can shift their preferences, as the process of being lied to becomes more important than the outcome itself. [4]

The responses to lies depend on the desirability of outcomes and the perceived fairness by which those outcomes are obtained. If outcomes are desirable, targets will respond favourably regardless of the fairness in the process involved. [4] However, if the outcome is undesirable, their response will account for the unfairness in the outcome's process. [4] Since paternalistic lies are not objectively desirable compared to honesty, the targets will be less satisfied with the resulting outcome than when the same outcome is obtained via honesty. [4]

Risks

Lie-tellers are also affected by the lie. They establish an ego-protective mechanism that generates a normalization belief through comparison to equally blameworthy activities by others to try and minimize their self-discrepancy. [7] This can be traced back to the conflict between internal values, such as protecting loved ones, and social norms around truth-telling. [7]

Besides, studies have shown that people who have been intensely or often lied to tend to increase their frequency of deception. [8] This finding is in line with the negative reciprocity norm, as it involves a set of beliefs favouring retribution as a counteract to being unfavourably treated. [8] This implies that people reciprocate equally when receiving negative treatment. [8]

Occurrence

Parenting

Parents are the key figures children rely on in their developmental years. [2] They represent their role models, which greatly influence and ground their social learning. [9] Numerous studies indicate that parents commonly use paternalistic lies to control emotions and influence behaviour of their children. This has been found to occur cross-culturally. [10] Tzeltal-speaking Mayans, a tribe living in a rural community in southern Mexico, frequently lie to their children. [11] They do not consider these lies as morally problematic and encourage their children to adopt the same practice. [11] However, this can create an honesty paradox where parents live in a society where honesty is promoted as a social value. [2]

A study which looked at parental lying in the U.S. and China showed that while lying by parents in both countries was widespread, a larger proportion of parents in China employed and approved of the practice in order to promote behavioral compliance in comparison to parents in the U.S. Researchers ascribed this variation to differences in cultural values. [10]

Other findings revealed that paternalistic lies negatively influence the parent-child relationship through distrust. [2] Furthermore, a negative correlation has been observed between the perceived frequency of lies told and parental involvement, autonomy support, and warmth. [2]

Healthcare

Controversially, paternalistic lies are sometimes also used in physician-patient relationships. Doctors may give patients an overly optimistic prognosis to provide hope, [4] or they occasionally use placebos on patients to prevent them from feeling disappointed if no alternative cure option is available. [12] These practices call into question the ethics behind them. [13] Potential problems that can arise are:

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ Gert, Bernard; Culver, Charles M. (1976). "Paternalistic Behavior". Philosophy & Public Affairs. 6 (1): 45–57. ISSN   0048-3915. JSTOR   2265061. PMID   11661344.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cargill, Joscelyn R.; Curtis, Drew A. (2017). "Parental Deception: Perceived Effects on Parent-Child Relationships". Journal of Relationships Research. 8: e1. doi:10.1017/jrr.2017.1. ISSN   1838-0956. S2CID   152030394.
  3. ↑ "Is It Always Wrong to Lie?". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Lupoli, Matthew J.; Levine, Emma E.; Greenberg, Adam Eric (2018-05-01). "Paternalistic lies". Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 146: 31–50. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2018.01.001. ISSN   0749-5978.
  5. 1 2 3 Stokke, Andreas (2018), "Paternalistic lying and deception", The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Paternalism, pp. 248–260, doi:10.4324/9781315657080-21, ISBN   9781315657080 , retrieved 2023-03-28
  6. 1 2 Wackenhut, Joyce (1987). Social Deception in Everyday Life. ISBN   9798206050318.
  7. 1 2 Sagarin, Brad J.; Rhoads, Kelton v. L.; Cialdini, Robert B. (November 1998). "Deceiver's Distrust: Denigration as a Consequence of Undiscovered Deception". Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 24 (11): 1167–1176. doi:10.1177/01461672982411004. ISSN   0146-1672. S2CID   145218249.
  8. 1 2 3 Tyler, James M.; Feldman, Robert S.; Reichert, Andreas (2006-01-01). "The price of deceptive behavior: Disliking and lying to people who lie to us". Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 42 (1): 69–77. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2005.02.003. ISSN   0022-1031.
  9. ↑ Ceka, Ardita; Murati, Rabije (2016). "The Role of Parents in the Education of Children" (PDF). Journal of Education and Practice. 7 (5): 61–64.
  10. 1 2 Heyman, Gail D.; Hsu, Anna S.; Fu, Genyue; Lee, Kang (December 2013). "Instrumental lying by parents in the US and China". International Journal of Psychology. 48 (6): 1176–1184. doi:10.1080/00207594.2012.746463. ISSN   0020-7594. PMC   8063349 . PMID   23173801.
  11. 1 2 Heyman, Gail D.; Luu, Diem H.; Lee, Kang (2009-09-01). "Parenting by lying". Journal of Moral Education. 38 (3): 353–369. doi:10.1080/03057240903101630. ISSN   0305-7240. PMC   2949975 . PMID   20930948.
  12. ↑ Foddy, Bennett (2009-12-14). "A Duty to Deceive: Placebos in Clinical Practice". The American Journal of Bioethics. 9 (12): 4–12. doi:10.1080/15265160903318350. ISSN   1526-5161. PMID   20013484. S2CID   471043.
  13. ↑ Berger, Jeffrey (2009-12-14). "Paternalistic Assumptions and a Purported Duty to Deceive". The American Journal of Bioethics. 9 (12): 20–21. doi:10.1080/15265160903234086. ISSN   1526-5161. PMID   20013489. S2CID   10016813.
  14. ↑ Jauhar, Sandeep (2014-02-22). "Opinion | When Doctors Need to Lie". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  15. 1 2 Rorty, Mary V.; Frankel, Lorry R. (2009-12-14). "The Paradoxical Placebo". The American Journal of Bioethics. 9 (12): 17–20. doi:10.1080/15265160903242733. ISSN   1526-5161. PMID   20013488. S2CID   205858011.
  16. ↑ Chipidza, Fallon E.; Wallwork, Rachel S.; Stern, Theodore A. (2015-10-22). "Impact of the Doctor-Patient Relationship". The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders. 17 (5). doi:10.4088/PCC.15f01840. ISSN   2155-7780. PMC   4732308 . PMID   26835164.

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