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Cheaters, Liars, or Both? A New Classification of Dishonesty Profiles
David Pascual-Ezama1,2, Drazen Prelec2,3,4, Adrián Muñoz5
1Department of Accounting and Financial Economy, Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Psychological Science
|August 12, 2020
Summary
This study introduces a new method to measure individual dishonesty, revealing distinct behavioral patterns beyond simple lying. It categorizes dishonest acts into non-implementation, outcome manipulation, and repeated attempts for favorable results.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Economics
- Psychology
- Experimental Design
Background:
- Traditional dishonesty research relies on population-level analyses of self-reported outcomes from unsupervised lotteries.
- Existing methods lack the granularity to differentiate individual dishonest behaviors and their underlying mechanisms.
- A need exists for paradigms that capture nuanced, individual-level dishonest actions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel experimental paradigm for measuring individual-level dishonesty.
- To identify and characterize distinct profiles of dishonest behavior.
- To provide a richer classification of dishonest actions with theoretical implications.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted, employing self-administered lotteries (coin toss and six-sided die roll) to assess honesty.
- Experiment 1 (N=178) used a coin toss for binary honest/dishonest assessment.
- Experiment 2 (N=172) utilized a six-sided die to allow for gradations in dishonest behavior, tested both in-lab and online.
Main Results:
- Identified three distinct profiles of dishonest behavior among participants:
- 1. Non-implementation: Participants did not engage with the lottery mechanism.
- 2. Outcome manipulation: Participants performed the lottery but misrepresented the outcome.
- 3. Repeated attempts: Participants repeatedly executed the lottery until an acceptable outcome was achieved.
- These behavioral patterns were consistent across both experimental settings and participant groups.
Conclusions:
- The developed paradigm effectively measures individual dishonesty, offering a more detailed understanding than population-level analyses.
- The identified dishonesty profiles (non-implementation, outcome manipulation, repeated attempts) provide new theoretical insights into deceptive behaviors.
- This approach enhances the classification of dishonest actions and holds promise for future research in behavioral ethics and decision-making.
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