People choose different situations based on their personalities and preferences. In the case of cheating, the moral character of individuals affects the situation selection. Moral or guilt-prone people are ready to stop behavior that could harm others and even sacrifice financial rewards to do so. On the other hand, unscrupulous people seek such situations. Accordingly, researchers found that participants low in honesty-humility tend to prefer cheating-enabling environments, where their rate of cheating can further escalate.
“Our findings support the view that dishonest individuals seek cheating enabling environments.” says researchers Petr Houdek and Stepan Bahnik from Prague University of Economics.
In many situations, people behave ethically, while elsewhere dishonesty reigns. Results suggest that people low in moral character are likely to eventually dominate cheating-enabling environments, where they then cheat extensively. From a practical perspective, results show the importance of influencing self-selection of people into companies, departments, and other groups. If individuals motivated only by self-interest perceive public office as an opportunity to enrich themselves, the people with low moral character will seek to become civil servants and politicians.
See more in an original research article published in Judgement and Decision Making.
The Faculty of Business Administration (FBA) at the Prague University of Economics and Business is among the most respected schools in Central and Eastern Europe focused on the field of management. FBA mission is to generate and transmit knowledge, develop skills, and form attitudes for the successful management of companies and organisations in a changing global environment.
