Morality in Minimally Deceptive Environments

TY - JOUR

T1 - Morality in Minimally Deceptive Environments

AU - Mitkidis, Panagiotis

AU - Perkovic, Sonja

AU - Nichols, Aaron

AU - Elbæk, Christian T.

AU - Gerlach, Philipp

AU - Ariely, Dan

PY - 2024/3

Y1 - 2024/3

N2 - Psychologists, economists, and philosophers have long argued that in environments where deception is normative, moral behavior is harmed. In this article, we show that individuals making decisions within minimally deceptive environments do not behave more dishonestly than in nondeceptive environments. We demonstrate the latter using an example of experimental deception within established institutions, such as laboratories and institutional review boards. We experimentally manipulated whether participants received information about their deception. Across three well-powered studies, we empirically demonstrate that minimally deceptive environments do not affect downstream dishonest behavior. Only when participants were in a minimally deceptive environment and aware of being observed, their dishonest behavior decreased. Our results show that the relationship between deception and dishonesty might be more complicated than previous interpretations have suggested and expand the understanding how deception might affect (im)moral behavior. We discuss possible limitations and future directions as well as the applied nature of these findings.

AB - Psychologists, economists, and philosophers have long argued that in environments where deception is normative, moral behavior is harmed. In this article, we show that individuals making decisions within minimally deceptive environments do not behave more dishonestly than in nondeceptive environments. We demonstrate the latter using an example of experimental deception within established institutions, such as laboratories and institutional review boards. We experimentally manipulated whether participants received information about their deception. Across three well-powered studies, we empirically demonstrate that minimally deceptive environments do not affect downstream dishonest behavior. Only when participants were in a minimally deceptive environment and aware of being observed, their dishonest behavior decreased. Our results show that the relationship between deception and dishonesty might be more complicated than previous interpretations have suggested and expand the understanding how deception might affect (im)moral behavior. We discuss possible limitations and future directions as well as the applied nature of these findings.

KW - deception

KW - social norms

KW - morality

KW - dishonesty

KW - experimental deception

KW - Deception

KW - Humans

KW - Morals

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85166956526&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1037/xap0000476

DO - 10.1037/xap0000476

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37155272

SN - 1076-898X

VL - 30

SP - 48

EP - 61

JO - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied

JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied

IS - 1

ER -