The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty

Chapter 10. A Semioptimistic Ending: People Don’t Cheat Enough!

Based on

Rachel Barkan and Dan Ariely, “Worse and Worst: Daily Dishonesty of Business-men and Politicians,” working paper, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel (2008).

Yoel Inbar, David Pizarro, Thomas Gilovich, and Dan Ariely, “Moral Masochism: Guilt Causes Physical Self-punishment,” working paper (2009).

Azim Shariff and Ara Norenzayan, “Mean Gods Make Good People: Different Views of God Predict Cheating Behavior,” International Journal for the Psychology of Religion (2011).

Related readings

Keri L. Kettle and Gerald Häubl, “The Signature Effect: How Signing One’s Name Influences Consumption-Related Behavior by Priming Self-Identity,” Journal of Consumer Research (2011).

Deepak Malhotra, “(When) Are Religious People Nicer? Religious Salience and the ‘Sunday Effect’ on Pro-Social Behavior,” Judgment and Decision Making (2010).

Searchable Terms

The page numbers in this index relate to the printed version of this book; they do not match the pages of your ebook. You can use your ebook reader’s search tool to find a specific word or passage.

Abagnale, Frank, 173

academia:

conflicts of interest in, 82, 84–85

financial services industry’s influence in, 84–85

group-based projects in, 217–18

pharmaceutical companies’ influence in, 82

academic credentials, misrepresentation of, 135–36, 153, 154

accounting firms:

collaborative dishonesty in, 218–21

“in good faith” notion and, 219–20

Adam and Eve, 98

Adams, Mike, 107

advertising agencies, link between creativity and dishonesty in, 186–87

aesthetic preferences, impact of favors on, 75–77

Afghanistan War, 152

altruistic cheating, 222–23, 225–26, 232

supervisory effect and, 227–28

American Medical Association, 79

Amir, On, 15, 18, 31–32, 39, 262

Apple, 184

atheists, swearing on bible and, 40, 41, 42

Atlantic, 214–15

Austen, Jane, 154–55

Avnaim-Pesso, Liora, 102

Ayal, Shahar, 197, 225, 263

bacterial infections, 192–93

Balleisen, Ed, 188

bankers, cheating among politicians vs., 243

banks:

small misbehaviors of, 240

see also financial services industry

Barkan, Racheli, 21, 23, 262

Barlow, John Perry, 1, 2

baseball, steroids in, 156

Bateson, Melissa, 224

Baumeister, Roy, 100, 104, 262–63

Baylor College of Medicine, 75–77

Bazerman, Max, 45, 260

Becker, Gary, 3–4, 14, 26

Be’er Sheva, Israel, farmer’s market in, 23–24

being caught, probability of, 4–5, 13, 14, 27

varying, in matrix task, 20–22

benevolent behavior, 23–24

Bible, as moral reminder, 40, 41, 42

billable hours, overstating of, 35–37

blind customers, benevolent behavior toward, 23–26

brain:

higher connectivity in, 170

left-right split in, 164–65

of pathological liars, 169–70

Broken Windows Theory, 214–15, 249

businesspeople, self-monitoring of, 56–57

business schools, 248

group-based projects in, 217–18

cab drivers, benevolent behavior of, toward blind customer, 25–26

CAD/CAM equipment, in dentistry, 67–71

Cain, Daylian, 89

Canada, cheating in, 242

care for customers, in illegal businesses, 138–39

car mechanics, 93

Carnegie Mellon University, 197–207

car recommendation software, “fixing” answers in, 166–67

Cary, Apoth E., 246

cashless society, implications for dishonesty in, 34

Catch Me If You Can (Abagnale), 173

certificates for (false) achievements, 153–54

Chance, Zoë, 145, 264

charitable behavior, 23–24

cheating:

aggressive cheaters and, 239

altruistic, 222–23, 225–26, 227–28, 232

being made blatantly aware of, 156–57

being watched and, 223–25, 227

collaborative, see collaborative cheating

desire to benefit from, 12–14, 27, 29, 237

ego depletion, 104–6, 111–12

fake products’ impact on, 125–31

in golf, 55–65

honor codes and, 41–45

increasing creativity to increase level of, 184–87

as infection, 191–216; see also infectious nature of cheating

infidelity and, 244–45

on IQ-like tests, self-deception and, 145–49, 151, 153–54, 156–57

reducing amount of, 39–51, 248–54

removing oneself from tempting situation and, 108–11

signing forms at top and, 46–51

Ten Commandments and, 39–40, 41, 44

what-the-hell effect and, 127–31, 136

see also dishonesty

China, cheating in, 241–42

Chloé accessories, studies with, 123–34

Civil War veterans, 152

classes, infectious nature of cheating in, 195–97

Coca-Cola, stealing money vs., 32–33

cognitive dissonance, 81

cognitive load:

ability to resist temptation and, 99–100

judges’ parole rulings and, 102–3

Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT), 173–74

coin logic, 167–68

collaborative cheating, 217–35

altruism and, 222–23, 225–26, 227–28, 232

being watched or monitored and, 223–25, 227–28, 234–35

emphasis on working as group or team and, 217–18

infectious nature of cheating in relation to, 221–22

social utility and, 222–23

companies:

being one step removed from money and, 34–37

irrationality of, 51

see also corporate dishonesty

compliments, insincere, 159

conflicts of interest, 67–95, 238, 248