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Oneself is more important: Exploring the role of narcissism and fear of negative evaluation in the relationship between subjective social class and dishonesty

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  • Song Wu
  • Jingyuan Liang
  • Jing Lin
  • Wei Cai

Abstract

Previous studies have found that high social class individuals are more dishonest than low social class ones. However, the underlying mechanism of this phenomenon is still unclear. The “ignoring negative consequences” hypothesis suggests that belonging to a high social class makes individuals ignore the negative consequences of dishonesty, whereas the “self-focused” hypothesis suggests that belonging to a high social class makes individuals focus more on the self and self-interests. The present study aims to examine these two hypotheses by measuring participants’ subjective social class, narcissism, fear of negative evaluation, and tendency to be dishonest. To this end, an online survey was conducted. Results provide evidence for the self-focused hypothesis by showing that subjective social class positively predicts the tendency to be dishonest, and narcissism plays a mediating role in this relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Song Wu & Jingyuan Liang & Jing Lin & Wei Cai, 2019. "Oneself is more important: Exploring the role of narcissism and fear of negative evaluation in the relationship between subjective social class and dishonesty," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(6), pages 1-10, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0218076
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218076
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Capraro, Valerio & Schulz, Jonathan & Rand, David G., 2019. "Time pressure and honesty in a deception game," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 93-99.
    2. repec:cup:judgdm:v:13:y:2018:i:4:p:345-355 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Capraro, Valerio, 2017. "Does the truth come naturally? Time pressure increases honesty in one-shot deception games," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 54-57.
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