The Interpersonal Costs of Dishonesty

J.J.  Lee; H.  Hardin; B.  Parmar; F.  Gino

Article | Journal of Experimental Psychology: General | September 2019

The Interpersonal Costs of Dishonesty: How Dishonest Behavior Reduces Individuals' Ability to Read Others' Emotions

by J.J. Lee, H. Hardin, B. Parmar and F. Gino

Abstract

In this research, we examine the unintended consequences of dishonest behavior for one’s interpersonal abilities and subsequent ethical behavior. Specifically, we unpack how dishonest conduct can reduce one’s generalized empathic accuracy—the ability to accurately read other people’s emotional states. In the process, we distinguish these two constructs from one another and demonstrate a causal relationship. The effects of dishonesty on empathic accuracy that we found were significant though modest in size. Across eight studies (n=2,588), we find support for (1) a correlational and causal account of dishonest behavior reducing empathic accuracy; (2) an underlying mechanism of reduced relational self-construal (i.e., the tendency to define the self in terms of close relationships); (3) negative downstream consequences of impaired empathic accuracy, in terms of dehumanization and subsequent dishonesty; and (4) a physiological trait (i.e., vagal reactivity) that serves as a boundary condition for the relationship between dishonest behavior and empathic accuracy.

Keywords: dishonesty; empathy; Ethics; Behavior; Interpersonal Communication; Emotions; Perception;

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Lee, J.J., H. Hardin, B. Parmar, and F. Gino. "The Interpersonal Costs of Dishonesty: How Dishonest Behavior Reduces Individuals' Ability to Read Others' Emotions." Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 148, no. 9 (September 2019): 1557–1574.

Article | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Signing at the Beginning vs at the End Does Not Decrease Dishonesty

Ariella Kristal, A.V. Whillans, Max Bazerman, Francesca Gino, Lisa Shu, Nina Mazar and Dan Ariely

Honest reporting is essential for society to function well. However, people frequently lie when asked to provide information, such as misrepresenting their income to save money on taxes. A landmark finding published in PNAS (Shu, Mazar, Gino, Ariely, and Bazerman, 2012, “Signing at the Beginning Makes Ethics Salient and Decreases Dishonest Self-reports in Comparison to Signing at the End”) provided evidence for a simple way of encouraging honest reporting: asking people to sign a veracity statement at the beginning instead of at the end of a self-report form. Since this finding was published, various government agencies have adopted this practice. However, in this project, we failed to replicate this result. Across five conceptual replications (N = 4,559) and one highly powered, pre-registered, direct replication (N = 1,235) conducted with the authors of the original paper, we observed no effect of signing first on honest reporting. Given the policy applications of this result, it is important to update the scientific record regarding the veracity of these results.

Keywords: Morality; nudge; policy-making; replication; honesty; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Policy;

Citation:

Kristal, Ariella, A.V. Whillans, Max Bazerman, Francesca Gino, Lisa Shu, Nina Mazar, and Dan Ariely. "Signing at the Beginning vs at the End Does Not Decrease Dishonesty." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117, no. 13 (March 31, 2020). View Details

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The Interpersonal Costs of Dishonesty: How Dishonest Behavior Reduces Individuals' Ability to Read Others' Emotions

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