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84 percent of parents in the United States and 98 percent of parents in China lie to their children to make them behave. When lies are told to children it gets the clinical description of  “instrumental lying.”

In both countries, the most common lie told by parents is the same. It occurs when a child is having a tantrum in public and the parent says he or she will walk away and leave the child if the kid does not behave.

Another common lie is a false promise of buying a requested toy or other item at a later date if the child behaves.

Parents lie the most about food, spending money and misbehavior, according to the study.

Parents in the United States lied more about fictional characters such as Santa Claus and the tooth fairy compared to parents in China.