I’m inclined to think that lying to children is dominance behavior—the people who do it are reassuring themselves that they’re in charge. However, it’s hard to get evidence about covert motives.
That makes sense, since it explains why deceived children are so cute.
It doesn’t even have to be a covert motive; the motive can quite honestly be that it’s so nice to see the little darlings really believe. But reinforcing the sense of dominance in our own minds could still be the covert motive of our genes.
I’m inclined to think that lying to children is dominance behavior—the people who do it are reassuring themselves that they’re in charge. However, it’s hard to get evidence about covert motives.
That makes sense, since it explains why deceived children are so cute.
It doesn’t even have to be a covert motive; the motive can quite honestly be that it’s so nice to see the little darlings really believe. But reinforcing the sense of dominance in our own minds could still be the covert motive of our genes.