Repeated deception gradually leads to large transgressions. Oftentimes, people behave deceptively without their awareness. However, the mechanism in which the repetition of ambiguous deception without obvious intention of deceptive behavior influences intentional deception remains unclear. The study set up a scenario where a participant can opt for ambiguous deception and investigated the intervals between such instances in interpersonal situations. Moreover, a sender-receiver game was conducted in which participants were allowed to voluntarily and repeatedly deceive another participant. Results revealed that 26 of the participants cheated during the experiment and that their intentional deceptive decisions gradually increased in the latter half of the game. Furthermore, the intervals between ambiguous deceptive acts shortened over the course of the game. These findings indicate the necessity to investigate the mechanisms involved in the dynamic changes that occur during the practice of deception.
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