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. The most used form of paternalistic deception are paternalist lies. 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. As they are justified by the assumption that they are in the target's best interest, they are a subset of prosocial lies. They can occur through omissions, half-truths, or white lies. Paternalistic lies can be manipulative, however their key feature involves the interference with the target's autonomy. This is induced by denying them access to accurate information and by limiting their behaviour choices. Confrontations with paternalistic lies can begin in early childhood and continue throughout an individual's life.
Issues
Paternalistic lies are rooted in subjective assumptions, which can solely predict the target's preferences. Several studies show that targets judge paternalistic lies harshly because they perceive their autonomy to have been violated. The underlying reason is the belief in the right to know the truth. 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 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. 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.
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. 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. The target can shift their preferences, as the process of being lied to becomes more important than the outcome itself.
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. However, if the outcome is undesirable, their response will account for the unfairness in the outcome's process. 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.
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. This can be traced back to the conflict between internal values, such as protecting loved ones, and social norms around truth-telling.
Besides, studies have shown that people who have been intensely or often lied to tend to increase their frequency of deception. 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. This implies that people reciprocate equally when receiving negative treatment.