Motivated Interpretations of Deceptive Information

Brain Sciences

Shaul Shalvi¹  Sigal Vainapel²  Yaniv Shani² 

[1] Amsterdam School of Economics, University of Amsterdam, 1012 WX Amsterdam, The Nertherlands;Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel;

关键词: moral judgment;    lies;    information seeking;    behavioral ethics;    dishonesty;   

DOI  :  10.3390/brainsci11030297

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

We examine whether people seek information that might help them make sense of others’ dishonest behavior. Participants were told that a hypothetical partner (either a friend or a stranger) had engaged in a task in which the partner could lie to boost their earnings at the expense of the participant’s earnings. Participants were less likely to search for information that can justify potential dishonest behavior conducted by a friend than by a stranger (Experiment 1). When participants knew for certain that their partners had lied to them, they were less likely to assume that that the lie was justified when told that the partner was a friend rather than a stranger (Experiment 2). The results imply that people are more likely to search for information that may reduce the severity of possible dishonest behavior when a stranger, rather than a friend, is responsible for the behavior.

【 授权许可】

Unknown