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Development Roast https://inesad.edu.bo/developmentroast/2013/07/how-dishonesty-works/ |
How Dishonesty Works Leerlo en español AQUI 1  Any economist who thinks people are rational, should read the books “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions 2” and “The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone - Especially Ourselves 3” written by Dan Ariely 4, professor at Duke University. He explores the fertile intersection between psychology and economics to understand why we often make less than rational decisions. While he has worked on many interesting irrational behaviors--like engaging in risky sex or paying way too much for a good or service--this article is about dishonesty, and what we can do about it. According to Ariely, we all struggle with two conflicting motivations: On the one hand, we want to reap the easy benefits from cheating and get as much money, glory and satisfaction as possible as quickly as possible; but on the other hand, we want to be able to perceive ourselves as honest, honorable people. Ariely has made numerous laboratory experiments to understand how that internal conflict plays out in most people. He summarized that work in a Wall Street Journal article 5, and I will summarize it even further here:
What Ariely and his co-authors are suggesting is that people do not only take into account the external costs and benefits of cheating, but that they also have an internal threshold mechanism which cause them to avoid actions that are incompatible with their own self-image. For some people that moral threshold is very high, and they would not even consider throwing a gum paper on the street, while for others it is much lower and they would be comfortable cheating on exams, stealing from their employer, engaging in tax evasion, insurance fraud, adultery, etc. Given that cheating, lying, stealing, etc. is bad for the overall functioning of society, Ariely has been exploring what we can do to push people towards greater honesty. He found the following factors to be important:
Parents, employers and teachers who hope to keep their kids, employees and students reasonably honest, would do well to take these profound insights of Ariely into account. [contact-form to='iouliafenton@gmail.com' subject='INESAD Lykke Dishonesty article'][contact-field label='Like this article? Sign up for weekly updates from Development Roast' type='email' required='1'/][contact-field label='Title' type='select' required='1' options='Dr.,Professor,Ms.,Mr.'/][contact-field label='Name' type='name' required='1'/][/contact-form] Dr. Lykke E. Andersen is the Director of the Center for Economic and Environmental Modeling and Analysis (CEEMA) at the Institute of Advanced Development Studies (INESAD), La Paz, Bolivia. For your reference: Francesca Gino, Shahar Ayal and Dan Ariely (2009) “Contagion and Differentiation in Unethical Behavior: The Effect of One Bad Apple on the Barrel.” Psychological Science, 20 (3): 393-398. Dan Ariely (2012) The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone---Especially Ourselves 7. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Dan Ariely (2010) Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions 8. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. |
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