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This cross-sectional study examined whether reputational concerns moderated the relationship between lying and depression in adolescence. We conducted an online survey of 1,022 Japanese high school students between the ages of 15 and 18 (474 males and 548 females). Results showed that the relationship between selfish lying and depression was not moderated by either rejection avoidance or praise seeking. In contrast, the relationship between prosocial lying and depression was moderated by both rejection avoidance and praise seeking. Specifically, when rejection avoidance and praise seeking were high and when rejection avoidance was high and praise seeking was low, those with higher tendencies toward prosocial lying exhibited higher levels of depression. When rejection avoidance was low and praise seeking was high, those with higher tendencies toward prosocial lying had lower levels of depression. Our findings indicate that reputational concerns complexly moderate the relationship between lying and depression in adolescence.

Abstract Gratitude is pivotal in promoting and maintaining prosocial interactions in human society. However, it is unclear whether the prosocial function of gratitude can be observed even in situations of uncertainty about whether one can provide benefits to others. Here, we examined whether gratitude promotes prosocial behavior in uncertain situations. Participants (N = 60) were randomly assigned to either a gratitude or neutral group. Following the emotion-induced manipulation, we examined whether participants would choose a non-unique resource when selecting one of four resources (one unique and three non-unique) to leave the choice to the follower. This represented an uncertain situation in which choosing a non-unique resource does not necessarily mean the follower will choose the unique one. Results showed that participants in the gratitude group were more likely to choose non-unique resources than those in the neutral group, suggesting that gratitude promotes prosocial behavior even in uncertain situations. Our findings indicate that gratitude is widely prevalent as a lubricant for interpersonal and cooperative relationships in human society.