New research reveals mentoring improves children’s honesty years later

The study, by Professor Johannes Abeler, Department of Economics at the University of Oxford, focused on children from low socio-economic backgrounds in Germany. Researchers examined the impact of a year-long mentoring programme called Balu und Du (Baloo and You), which paired primary-school children with university student mentors.

In a world increasingly concerned about misinformation and declining trust, these findings suggest that role models can  increase as well as decrease honesty. 

Professor Johannes Abeler, Department of Economics

The mentors engaged the children in activities like cooking, sports, and arts, creating a supportive social environment outside their family. Honesty levels were assessed four years later using behavioural experiments that measured truth-telling in a controlled setting.

The findings were striking: children who were randomly allocated to participate in the mentoring programme were significantly less likely to lie in the experiments compared to those who were not. This long-lasting effect highlights the role of the social environment in shaping honesty.

Professor Abeler explained: 'Our findings reveal that honesty is not a fixed trait. With the right social support, we can foster honest behaviour that endures over time.

'Interestingly, the effects were strongest for children from less supportive family environments. Children whose parents exhibited less warmth or trust benefited most from the intervention, suggesting that mentors acted as crucial role models in providing the stability and encouragement needed for moral development.

Professor Johannes Abler

Read the paper 'Malleability of Preferences for Honesty' in full in The Economic Journal.