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On the impact of Honesty-Humility and a cue of being watched on cheating behavior

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  • Pfattheicher, Stefan
  • Schindler, Simon
  • Nockur, Laila

Abstract

The present contribution examines two factors, as well as their interplay, prominently discussed in the literature on cheating: The basic personality trait of Honesty-Humility from the HEXACO personality model and cues of being watched when given the possibility to cheat. In two studies (Study 1 N = 192, Study 2 N = 957), we applied economically incentivized cheating paradigms (a dice-rolling paradigm and a coin-toss paradigm) and replicated the previously found negative relation between Honesty-Humility and cheating behavior. We further demonstrated that this relation holds beyond the dark personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism (i.e., the Dark Tetrad). In fact, Honesty-Humility fully absorbed the positive correlations of Dark Tetrad dimensions and cheating. However, we failed to obtain statistically significant results with respect to the other analyzed factor: manipulating being watched by presenting stylized watching eyes when individuals could cheat did not significantly affect cheating behavior. We further found no significant interaction between the personality factors and the presentation of stylized eyes. The findings are discussed with regard to current debates in the fields of cheating and personality as well as when being watched alters behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Pfattheicher, Stefan & Schindler, Simon & Nockur, Laila, 2019. "On the impact of Honesty-Humility and a cue of being watched on cheating behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 159-174.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:71:y:2019:i:c:p:159-174
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2018.06.004
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    1. Urs Fischbacher & Franziska Föllmi-Heusi, 2013. "Lies In Disguise—An Experimental Study On Cheating," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 525-547, June.
    2. Reuben, Ernesto & Stephenson, Matt, 2013. "Nobody likes a rat: On the willingness to report lies and the consequences thereof," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 384-391.
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    4. Thomas Brudermann & Gregory Bartel & Thomas Fenzl & Sebastian Seebauer, 2015. "Eyes on social norms: A field study on an honor system for newspaper sale," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 79(2), pages 285-306, September.
    5. Melissa Bateson & Daniel Nettle & Gilbert Roberts, 2006. "Cues of being watched enhance cooperation in a real-world setting," Natural Field Experiments 00214, The Field Experiments Website.
    6. Abeler, Johannes & Becker, Anke & Falk, Armin, 2014. "Representative evidence on lying costs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 96-104.
    7. Dan Ariely & Nina Mazar, 2006. "Dishonesty in everyday life and its policy implications," Working Papers 06-3, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
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    Cited by:

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    4. Gerardo Sabater-Grande & Maite Alguacil & Noemí Herranz-Zarzoso, 2025. "Economic dishonesty depending on the level of temptation: a field experiment," Working Papers 2025/05, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    5. Wang, Wenhua & Chen, Peikun & Li, Jianbiao & Niu, Xiaofei, 2024. "Institutional quarantine and dishonest behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    6. Klijn, Flip & Mdaghri Alaoui, Mehdi & Vorsatz, Marc, 2022. "Academic integrity in on-line exams: Evidence from a randomized field experiment," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
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    8. Petr Houdek & Štěpán Bahník & Marek Hudík & Marek Vranka, 2021. "Selection effects on dishonest behavior," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 16(2), pages 238-266, March.
    9. Vranka, Marek & Hudík, Marek & Frollová, Nikola & Bahník, Štěpán & Sýkorová, Markéta & Houdek, Petr, 2021. "Honesty of online workers: A field experiment shows no evidence of self-selection of cheaters to a cheating-enabling work environment," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 94(C).

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