From vulnerability to duplicity: Examining the connection between childhood adversity and deception

Abstract

Deception research has traditionally evaluated how individual differences like personality traits and demographics correlate with lying. However, the establishment of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as an individual difference that also links to deception remains underexplored. To this end, the present study (N = 784 students) investigated the relationship between ACEs and deception in adulthood. Results indicated that individuals with more (versus less) adverse childhood experiences, particularly those involving maltreatment and victimization, reported more daily white and big lies, independent of aversive personality traits like narcissism and Machiavellianism. Consistent with other studies on individual differences and deception, the effect sizes were small, but systematic. Together, these findings support the dispositional honesty hypothesis, indicating that foundational childhood experiences and events can shape or signal deceptive behavior. Generally, the study contributes to our underexamined knowledge base of the developmental antecedents of lying, emphasizing the role that adversity plays during childhood to influence deceptive behavior beyond commonly studied personality traits.