Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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

By: Ariella Kristal, A.V. Whillans, Max Bazerman, Francesca Gino, Lisa Shu, Nina Mazar and Dan Ariely
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

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 117, no. 13 (March 31, 2020).
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Authors

Ashley V. Whillans

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

Max H. Bazerman

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

Francesca Gino

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2021
    • Faculty Research

    The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being (A) and (B)

    By: Ashley V. Whillans
    • December 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Pal’s Sudden Service—Scaling an Organizational Model to Drive Growth

    By: Francesca Gino, Gary P. Pisano and Alexander Rohe
    • December 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Scaling Well by Doing Good: Motivating Talent at b.good

    By: Francesca Gino, Gary P. Pisano and Alexander Rohe
More from the Authors
  • The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being (A) and (B) By: Ashley V. Whillans
  • Pal’s Sudden Service—Scaling an Organizational Model to Drive Growth By: Francesca Gino, Gary P. Pisano and Alexander Rohe
  • Scaling Well by Doing Good: Motivating Talent at b.good By: Francesca Gino, Gary P. Pisano and Alexander Rohe
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College