1
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Kabha L, Berger A. When kindergarteners are tempted to deceive: A study of factors predicting lie-telling for personal gain. J Exp Child Psychol 2023; 233:105697. [PMID: 37224705 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Revised: 04/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
The current study examined the relations between children's cognitive and emotion abilities with their likelihood to tell a lie for personal gain in a tempting situation. These relations were examined using behavioral tasks and questionnaires. A total of 202 Israel Arab Muslim kindergarten children participated in this study. Our results showed that behavioral self-regulation was positively associated with children's likelihood to tell a lie for personal gain. Children with higher behavioral self-regulation actually tended to lie more for their own gain, suggesting that the likelihood to tell a lie might be related to children's ability to mobilize and integrate their cognitive abilities to self-regulate their behavior. In addition, through exploratory analysis, we found a positive relation between theory of mind and children's likelihood to tell a lie, which was moderated by inhibition. Specifically, only among children with low inhibition was there a positive correlation between their theory of mind and the likelihood to lie. Moreover, age and gender were related to children's lie-telling; older children tended more to lie for their own gain, and this likelihood was higher for boys than for girls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Kabha
- Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel; Department of Education, Al-Qasemi Academic College, Baqa-El-Gharbia, Israel.
| | - Andrea Berger
- Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel; School of Brain Sciences and Cognition, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
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2
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Reis M, Pfister R, Foerster A. Cognitive load promotes honesty. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2023; 87:826-844. [PMID: 35648259 PMCID: PMC9156617 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-022-01686-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In three experiments, we examined the cognitive underpinnings of self-serving dishonesty by manipulating cognitive load under different incentive structures. Participants could increase a financial bonus by misreporting outcomes of private die rolls without any risk of detection. At the same time, they had to remember letter strings of varying length. If honesty is the automatic response tendency and dishonesty is cognitively demanding, lying behavior should be less evident under high cognitive load. This hypothesis was supported by the outcome of two out of three experiments. We further manipulated whether all trials or only one random trial determined payoff to modulate reward adaptation over time (Experiment 2) and whether payoff was framed as a financial gain or loss (Experiment 3). The payoff scheme of one random or all trials did not affect lying behavior and, discordant to earlier research, facing losses instead of gains did not increase lying behavior. Finally, cognitive load and incentive frame interacted significantly, but contrary to our assumption gains increased lying under low cognitive load. While the impact of cognitive load on dishonesty appears to be comparably robust, motivational influences seem to be more elusive than commonly assumed in current theorizing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moritz Reis
- Department of Psychology (III), University of Würzburg, Röntgenring 11, 97070, Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Roland Pfister
- Department of Psychology (III), University of Würzburg, Röntgenring 11, 97070, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Anna Foerster
- Department of Psychology (III), University of Würzburg, Röntgenring 11, 97070, Würzburg, Germany
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3
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Zhang Y, Zhai Y, Zhou X, Zhang Z, Gu R, Luo Y, Feng C. Loss context enhances preferences for generosity but reduces preferences for honesty: Evidence from a combined behavioural‐computational approach. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Yijie Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University) Ministry of Education Guangzhou China
- School of Psychology South China Normal University Guangzhou China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application South China Normal University Guangzhou China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science South China Normal University Guangzhou China
| | - Yuzhu Zhai
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University) Ministry of Education Guangzhou China
- School of Psychology South China Normal University Guangzhou China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application South China Normal University Guangzhou China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science South China Normal University Guangzhou China
| | - Xingmei Zhou
- Center of Brain Disorder and Cognitive Sciences College of Psychology and Sociology Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science Shenzhen University Center for Emotion and Brain Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience Shenzhen China
| | - Zhixin Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University) Ministry of Education Guangzhou China
- School of Psychology South China Normal University Guangzhou China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application South China Normal University Guangzhou China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science South China Normal University Guangzhou China
| | - Ruolei Gu
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science Institute of Psychology Chinese Academy of Sciences Department of Psychology University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | - Yue‐jia Luo
- The State Key Lab of Cognitive and Learning Faculty of Psychology Beijing Normal University Beijing China
- The Research Center of Brain Science and Visual Cognition Kunming University of Science and Technology Kunming China
- College of Teacher Education Qilu Normal University Jinan China
| | - Chunliang Feng
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University) Ministry of Education Guangzhou China
- School of Psychology South China Normal University Guangzhou China
- Center for Studies of Psychological Application South China Normal University Guangzhou China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science South China Normal University Guangzhou China
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4
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Speer SPH, Smidts A, Boksem MAS. Cognitive control and dishonesty. Trends Cogn Sci 2022; 26:796-808. [PMID: 35840475 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Dishonesty is ubiquitous and imposes substantial financial and social burdens on society. Intuitively, dishonesty results from a failure of willpower to control selfish behavior. However, recent research suggests that the role of cognitive control in dishonesty is more complex. We review evidence that cognitive control is not needed to be honest or dishonest per se, but that it depends on individual differences in what we call one's 'moral default': for those who are prone to dishonesty, cognitive control indeed aids in being honest, but for those who are already generally honest, cognitive control may help them cheat to occasionally profit from small acts of dishonesty. Thus, the role of cognitive control in (dis)honesty is to override the moral default.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian P H Speer
- Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Social Brain Lab, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Ale Smidts
- Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Maarten A S Boksem
- Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
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5
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Hilbig BE. Personality and behavioral dishonesty. Curr Opin Psychol 2022; 47:101378. [PMID: 35751975 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Revised: 05/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The past two decades have seen major developments in the study of behavioral (dis)honesty and its measurement as well as a surge of interest in the location of trait honesty within models of basic personality structure and the role of personality traits in behavioral dishonesty more generally. The present review provides an overview of the corresponding literature with a particular emphasis on recent developments and identifies the research questions for which we now have relatively reliable knowledge as well as those that will require future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin E Hilbig
- Department of Psychology, University of Koblenz-Landau, 76829 Landau, Germany.
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6
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The Primacy of Honest Reputations. Curr Opin Psychol 2022; 46:101398. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Revised: 05/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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7
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Hatta H, Ueda R, Ashida H, Abe N. Are implicit attitudes toward dishonesty associated with self-serving dishonesty? Implications for the reliability of the IAT. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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8
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Sai L, Shang S, Zhao C, Liu X, Jiang Y, Compton BJ, Fu G, Heyman GD. The developmental origins of a default moral response: A shift from honesty to dishonesty. Child Dev 2022; 93:1154-1161. [PMID: 35312043 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
People are sometimes tempted to lie for their own benefit if it would not harm others. For adults, dishonesty is the default response in these circumstances. The developmental origins of this phenomenon were investigated between 2019 and 2021 among 6- to 11-year-old Han Chinese children from China (N = 548, 49% female). Children had an opportunity to win prizes in a behavioral economics game (Experiment 1) or a temptation resistance game adapted from developmental psychology (Experiment 2). In each experiment, the youngest children showed a default tendency of honesty and there was an overall age-related shift toward a default tendency of dishonesty. These findings provide direct evidence of developmental change in the automatic and controlled processes that underlie moral behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liyang Sai
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.,Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Siyuan Shang
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.,Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Changzhi Zhao
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xinchen Liu
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yuanyuan Jiang
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Brian J Compton
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Genyue Fu
- Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Gail D Heyman
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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9
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Volz S, Reinhard MA, Müller P. Does Ego Depletion Elicit Stronger Cues of Deception? OPEN PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1515/psych-2022-0129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Lying is cognitively demanding and presumably requires self-regulation. According to ego depletion theory, a task that requires self-regulation should therefore impair an individual’s ability to tell a convincing lie in a later task. Consequently, it was hypothesized that a manipulation of ego depletion would enhance behavioral differences between liars and truth-tellers. To manipulate ego depletion, participants worked (vs. did not work) on a task in which they had to suppress dominant responses while copying a text. Subsequently, they talked in a simulated job interview about a job they had previously held (vs. not held). In the sample of 164 participants, there was no evidence to support the hypothesis; the expected Ego Depletion x Veracity interaction was not significant for any of the 15 behavioral cues coded in the videotaped interviews. Although the main effect of ego depletion was significant at the multivariate level for the first of two parts of the interview, none of the univariate main effects reached the significance level corrected for multiple testing. Bayesian analyses rendered moderate to strong evidence in favor of the null hypothesis. Possible implications of the results are discussed, also those related to ego depletion theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Volz
- Department of Psychology , University of Kassel
| | | | - Patrick Müller
- Faculty of Civil Engineering, Building Physics, and Business , University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart
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10
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Is it all about appearance? Limited cognitive control and information advantage reveal self-serving reciprocity. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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11
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Van der Cruyssen I, D’hondt J, Meijer E, Verschuere B. Does Honesty Require Time? Two Preregistered Direct Replications of Experiment 2 of Shalvi, Eldar, and Bereby-Meyer (2012). Psychol Sci 2020; 31:460-467. [PMID: 32156182 PMCID: PMC7168803 DOI: 10.1177/0956797620903716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Shalvi, Eldar, and Bereby-Meyer (2012) found across two studies (N = 72 for each) that time pressure increased cheating. These findings suggest that dishonesty comes naturally, whereas honesty requires overcoming the initial tendency to cheat. Although the study's results were statistically significant, a Bayesian reanalysis indicates that they had low evidential strength. In a direct replication attempt of Shalvi et al.'s Experiment 2, we found that time pressure did not increase cheating, N = 428, point biserial correlation (rpb) = .05, Bayes factor (BF)01 = 16.06. One important deviation from the original procedure, however, was the use of mass testing. In a second direct replication with small groups of participants, we found that time pressure also did not increase cheating, N = 297, rpb = .03, BF01 = 9.59. These findings indicate that the original study may have overestimated the true effect of time pressure on cheating and the generality of the effect beyond the original context.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ewout Meijer
- Clinical Psychological Science Department, Maastricht University
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12
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Köbis NC, Verschuere B, Bereby-Meyer Y, Rand D, Shalvi S. Intuitive Honesty Versus Dishonesty: Meta-Analytic Evidence. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2019; 14:778-796. [PMID: 31291557 DOI: 10.1177/1745691619851778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Is self-serving lying intuitive? Or does honesty come naturally? Many experiments have manipulated reliance on intuition in behavioral-dishonesty tasks, with mixed results. We present two meta-analyses (with evidential value) testing whether an intuitive mind-set affects the proportion of liars (k = 73; n = 12,711) and the magnitude of lying (k = 50; n = 6,473). The results indicate that when dishonesty harms abstract others, promoting intuition causes more people to lie, log odds ratio = 0.38, p = .0004, and people to lie more, Hedges's g = 0.26, p < .0001. However, when dishonesty inflicts harm on concrete others, promoting intuition has no significant effect on dishonesty (p > .63). We propose one potential explanation: The intuitive appeal of prosociality may cancel out the intuitive selfish appeal of dishonesty, suggesting that the social consequences of lying could be a promising key to the riddle of intuition's role in honesty. We discuss limitations such as the relatively unbalanced distribution of studies using concrete versus abstract victims and the overall large interstudy heterogeneity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nils C Köbis
- 1 Center for Research in Experimental Economics and Political Decision Making, University of Amsterdam
| | | | | | - David Rand
- 4 Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Shaul Shalvi
- 1 Center for Research in Experimental Economics and Political Decision Making, University of Amsterdam
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13
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Li H, Li C, Wang Z, Li X. Simulating the impacts of mutual trust on tacit knowledge transfer using agent-based modelling approach. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH & PRACTICE 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/14778238.2019.1601506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hong Li
- School of Economics and Management, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Changhong Li
- School of Economics and Management, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Zhan Wang
- School of Economics and Management, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Xinlan Li
- School of Economics and Management, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
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14
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Sai L, Wu H, Hu X, Fu G. Telling a truth to deceive: Examining executive control and reward-related processes underlying interpersonal deception. Brain Cogn 2018; 125:149-156. [PMID: 29990705 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2018.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2018] [Revised: 06/26/2018] [Accepted: 06/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Does deception necessarily involve false statements that are incompatible with the truth? In some cases, people choose truthful statements in order to mislead others. This type of deception has been investigated less. The current study employed event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to investigate the neurocognitive processes when both truthful and false statements were used to deceive others. We focused our ERP analysis on two stages: a decision making stage during which participants decided whether to tell a false or a truthful statement, and an outcome evaluation stage during which participants evaluated whether their deception had succeeded or not. Results showed that in the decision making stage, intentions to deceive elicited larger N200s and smaller P300s than an honest control condition. During the outcome evaluation stage, success/failure feedback in the deception condition elicited larger Reward positivity (RewP) and feedback-P300 than feedback after honest responses. Importantly, whether participants chose to tell false or true statements, did not further modulate executive control or reward-related processes. Taken together, these results suggest that during interpersonal deception, having deceptive intentions engages executive control and reward-related processes regardless of the veracity of statements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liyang Sai
- Institute of Psychological Science, Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Haiyan Wu
- Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoqing Hu
- Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Genyue Fu
- Institute of Psychological Science, Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Research in Assessment of Cognitive Impairments, Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
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15
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Calluso C, Saulin A, Baumgartner T, Knoch D. Distinct Patterns of Cognitive Conflict Dynamics in Promise Keepers and Promise Breakers. Front Psychol 2018; 9:939. [PMID: 29942275 PMCID: PMC6004372 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2017] [Accepted: 05/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
On a daily basis, we see how different people can be in keeping or breaking a given promise. However, we know very little about the cognitive conflict dynamics that underlie the decision to keep or break a promise and whether this is shaped by inter-individual variability. In order to fill this gap, we applied an ecologically valid promise decision task with real monetary consequences for all involved interaction partners and used mouse tracking to identify the dynamic, on-line cognitive processes that underlie the decision to keep or break a promise. Our findings revealed that on average, the process of breaking a promise is associated with largely curved mouse trajectories, while the process of keeping a promise was not, indicating that breaking a promise is associated with a larger conflict. Interestingly, however, this conflict pattern was strongly shaped by individual differences. Individuals who always kept their promises did not show any signs of conflict (i.e., straight mouse trajectories), indicating that they were not tempted by the monetary benefits associated with breaking the promise. In contrast, individuals who did not always keep their promise exhibited a large conflict (i.e., curved mouse trajectories), irrespective of whether they broke or kept their promise. A possible interpretation of these findings is that these individuals were always tempted by the unchosen decision option – the desire to act in a fair manner when breaking the promise and the monetary benefits when keeping the promise. This study provides the first piece of evidence that there are substantial inter-individual differences in cognitive conflict dynamics that underlie the decision to keep or break promises and that mouse tracking is able to illuminate important insights into individual differences in complex human’s decision processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cinzia Calluso
- Department of Social Psychology and Social Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Department of Business and Management, LUISS Guido Carli University, Rome, Italy
| | - Anne Saulin
- Department of Social Psychology and Social Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Baumgartner
- Department of Social Psychology and Social Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Daria Knoch
- Department of Social Psychology and Social Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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16
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Welsh DT, Mai KM, Ellis AP, Christian MS. Overcoming the effects of sleep deprivation on unethical behavior: An extension of integrated self-control theory. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2018.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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17
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Stephens JM. Bridging the Divide: The Role of Motivation and Self-Regulation in Explaining the Judgment-Action Gap Related to Academic Dishonesty. Front Psychol 2018; 9:246. [PMID: 29545762 PMCID: PMC5838022 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2017] [Accepted: 02/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
There is often a divide between moral judgment and moral action; between what we believe we ought to do (or not do) and what we do. Knowledge of this divide is not new, and numerous theories have attempted to offer more robust accounts of ethical decision-making and moral functioning. Knowledge of widespread academic dishonesty among students is also not new, and several studies have revealed that many students report cheating despite believing it is wrong. The present study, involving cross-sectional survey data from a sample of secondary students (N = 380) in the United States, contributes to the literature on this important area of theory and research by fulfilling three broad purposes. The first purpose concerned the assessment of students' judgments related to academic dishonesty, and offered evidence for the utility of a new instrument that measures what domain (personal, conventional, or moral) students use to categorize various types of cheating behavior rather than how much they believe it to be wrong. The second purpose involved exploring the relations between domain judgments and engagement in academic dishonesty, and results provided evidence for the hypothesis that students who believed an action to be morally wrong would be less likely to report doing it. Finally, the third and most important purpose of the study involved bridging the divide between moral judgment and action of academic dishonesty by testing competing theoretical models of moral functioning. Results indicated that the data demonstrated the best fit to a modified version of the hypothesized four-component model, whereby self-regulation (in the form of selective moral disengagement) played a significant mediating role in the relations between moral judgment and academic dishonesty, and that moral judgment also affected self-regulation indirectly through moral motivation (i.e., responsibility judgments). In brief, findings from this study offer support for the contention that moral functioning is both multi-component and effortful. Moral judgment is important, but only one of several components needed for effective moral functioning, and motivation and self-regulation play critical mediating roles in helping to bridge the divide between judgment and action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason M Stephens
- Faculty of Education and Social Work, School of Learning Development and Professional Practice, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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18
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Panasiti MS, Ponsi G. Commentary: Investigating the Effects of Anger and Guilt on Unethical Behaviour: A Dual-Process Approach. Front Psychol 2017. [PMCID: PMC5296349 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Serena Panasiti
- Department of Psychology, University of Rome “Sapienza”Rome, Italy
- Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa LuciaRome, Italy
- *Correspondence: Maria Serena Panasiti
| | - Giorgia Ponsi
- Department of Psychology, University of Rome “Sapienza”Rome, Italy
- Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa LuciaRome, Italy
- Department of Social Psychology and Social Neuroscience, Institute of Psychology, University of BernBern, Switzerland
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19
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Burgoon JK. When is Deceptive Message Production More Effortful than Truth-Telling? A Baker's Dozen of Moderators. Front Psychol 2015; 6:1965. [PMID: 26733932 PMCID: PMC4689870 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2015] [Accepted: 12/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Deception is thought to be more effortful than telling the truth. Empirical evidence from many quarters supports this general proposition. However, there are many factors that qualify and even reverse this pattern. Guided by a communication perspective, I present a baker’s dozen of moderators that may alter the degree of cognitive difficulty associated with producing deceptive messages. Among sender-related factors are memory processes, motivation, incentives, and consequences. Lying increases activation of a network of brain regions related to executive memory, suppression of unwanted behaviors, and task switching that is not observed with truth-telling. High motivation coupled with strong incentives or the risk of adverse consequences also prompts more cognitive exertion–for truth-tellers and deceivers alike–to appear credible, with associated effects on performance and message production effort, depending on the magnitude of effort, communicator skill, and experience. Factors related to message and communication context include discourse genre, type of prevarication, expected response length, communication medium, preparation, and recency of target event/issue. These factors can attenuate the degree of cognitive taxation on senders so that truth-telling and deceiving are similarly effortful. Factors related to the interpersonal relationship among interlocutors include whether sender and receiver are cooperative or adversarial and how well-acquainted they are with one another. A final consideration is whether the unit of analysis is the utterance, turn at talk, episode, entire interaction, or series of interactions. Taking these factors into account should produce a more nuanced answer to the question of when deception is more difficult than truth-telling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judee K Burgoon
- Center for the Management of Information, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona Tucson, AZ, USA
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