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The Effect of Anchoring on Dishonest Behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Hiromasa Takahashi

    (Faculty of International Studies, Hiroshima City University)

  • Junyi Shen

    (Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration (RIEB), Kobe University, Japan, and School of Economics, Shanghai University, China)

Abstract

This study conducts experiments on dishonest behavior after anchoring the participants' expected reward to investigate the effect of anchoring on dishonest behavior. The experimental results show that those who are anchored to high reward behave less honestly than those anchored to low reward. This is because the anchoring changes participants' expected reward. Such a change in expected reward serve as participants' reference point to affect the likelihood of facing a loss frame where dishonest behaviors are more likely to occur.

Suggested Citation

  • Hiromasa Takahashi & Junyi Shen, 2018. "The Effect of Anchoring on Dishonest Behavior," Discussion Paper Series DP2018-04, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    • Handle: RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2018-04
    as

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    File URL: https://www.rieb.kobe-u.ac.jp/academic/ra/dp/English/DP2018-04.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2018
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    3. Ruffle, Bradley & Tobol, Yossef, 2013. "Honest on Mondays: Honesty and the Temporal Distance between Decisions and Payoffs," IZA Discussion Papers 7312, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Gino, Francesca & Pierce, Lamar, 2009. "The abundance effect: Unethical behavior in the presence of wealth," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 142-155, July.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Anchoring effect; Reference point; Dishonest behavior; Expected reward; Cheating; Risk attitude;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets

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