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From expert to lay theories about corruption

Author

Listed:
  • Gabrielle Poeschl

    (Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto)

  • Raquel Esteves

    (Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto)

  • Marta Ferreira

    (Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto)

Abstract

In order to compare expert with lay theories about corruption we asked 388 Portuguese adults, 204 men and 184 women, to fill out one of three questionnaires, which had a common part and were made up of one task of word association and several opinion scales. The main results show that lay people (a) strongly associate politics to corruption; (b) view some behaviors as more condemnable than others and as deserving of different types of punishment; (c) are aware of the different consequences of corruption; however, only the negative effect of corruption on social organization predicts the degree to which corrupt practices are considered as condemnable; (d) view Angola as presenting higher levels of corruption, namely of petty corruption, than Portugal, and as suffering more from its consequences; however, contrary to what was expected, the experience of living in a country with higher levels of corruption leads to the formation of less negative, rather than more negative, opinions about the consequences of corruption. These different aspects of lay people’s theories about corruption are discussed and synthesized.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabrielle Poeschl & Raquel Esteves & Marta Ferreira, 2015. "From expert to lay theories about corruption," OBEGEF Working Papers 037, OBEGEF - Observatório de Economia e Gestão de Fraude;OBEGEF Working Papers on Fraud and Corruption.
    • Handle: RePEc:por:obegef:037
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    File URL: http://www.fep.up.pt/repec/por/obegef/files/wp037.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Treisman, Daniel, 2000. "The causes of corruption: a cross-national study," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 399-457, June.
    2. Gabrielle Poeschl & Raquel Ribeiro, 2012. "Everyday opinions on grand and petty corruption: A Portuguese study," OBEGEF Working Papers 013, OBEGEF - Observatório de Economia e Gestão de Fraude;OBEGEF Working Papers on Fraud and Corruption.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    corruption; lay theories; condemnability; punishment; consequences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z19 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Other

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