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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 8, 2025

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses

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Inoculating Against Moral Disengagement Creates Ethical Adherence for Narcissism.

Daniel N Jones¹, Rafik Beekun¹, Julie Aitken Schermer²

¹University of Nevada, Reno, USA.

Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin

|November 7, 2024

Summary

Inoculating individuals against Moral Disengagement Tactics (MDTs) promotes honesty, particularly in those with narcissistic traits. This strategy reduces unethical behavior by preventing self-persuasion.

Keywords:

code of ethics dark triad dishonesty ethics inoculation

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Last Updated: Jun 8, 2025

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Published on: July 4, 2013

Area of Science:

Psychology
Behavioral Ethics
Social Psychology

Background:

Honesty is crucial in society, yet individuals use Moral Disengagement Tactics (MDTs) to justify unethical actions.
MDTs act as a form of self-persuasion, making them difficult to counteract.
Inoculation is a psychological strategy to prevent persuasion.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effectiveness of inoculation against MDTs in promoting honest behavior.
To examine if this effect differs across personality traits like narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.

Main Methods:

Three preregistered experiments (N=972) randomly assigned participants to either a code of ethics or an MDT inoculation condition.
Studies involved measuring ethical intentions, honest behavior, and self-reported dishonesty over time.

Main Results:

Inoculation against MDTs significantly increased honest intentions and behavior in individuals high in narcissism.
This effect was replicated and sustained longitudinally, showing fewer reported lies.
No significant interaction patterns were observed for Machiavellianism or psychopathy.

Conclusions:

Inoculation against MDTs is an effective method for reducing dishonesty, especially in individuals with high narcissistic tendencies.
This approach offers a promising strategy for fostering ethical conduct in specific populations.