Inhibitory mechanisms on dishonesty of groups and individuals

Abstract

Objective: the purpose of this study is to present how the insertion of control mechanisms, such as auditing and professional ethical standards, would influence the dishonest behavior of individuals in particular, and within a group. Method: an experiment was performed with 204 participants in whom they would watch a die-rolling game and report the number shown by the dice. Nevertheless, the payment was tied to the number they reported and not to the number seen, thus making them dishonest. Originality/Relevance: it is the first study in Brazil that seeks to verify components of collective dishonesty: previous works only analyzed individual dishonesty. In addition, both nationally and internationally, it is the first research in which mechanisms that are capable of inhibiting collective dishonesty are analyzed. Results: it was possible to verify that the audit and the reading of some articles of the Professional Code of Ethics of the Accountant made the participants less dishonest: when the individuals were not subject to any control mechanism, 27% of the participants were dishonest; On the other hand, when they were subject to an audit process or after reading the PCEA articles, the percentage of dishonest ones was 9%. Theoretical/Methodological Constraints: in the experiment it was possible to corroborate the hypothesis of the research: the control mechanisms presented (audit and reading articles in the PCEA) resulted in more honest decisions. Social/Management Contributions: this work puts into question the research on dishonesty, not only its ethical and moral aspects, but also its financial impacts.

Collaborative dishonesty: A meta-analytic review.

“…a Kocher et al (2018) a Bonfim (2018) a Bonfim and Silva (2018) a Bonfim and Silva (2019) a Castillo et al (2020) 9 663 266 798 9 Each participant completes a matrix task individually in which they need to solve as many puzzles correctly as possible. Individuals then count how many puzzles they solved, shred the test sheet, and write down the number of solved puzzles on a collection slip.…”

Valores Éticos Na Organização E a Qualidade Da Informação Contábil

“…Esse cenário é especialmente desafiador quando contrastado com dois aspectos relevantes e mutuamente dependentes que afetam o processo contábil: o primeiro diz respeito a discricionariedade que os gestores possuem nas tomadas de decisões (Seeger & Ulmer, 2003), que juntamente com a subjetividade das escolhas contábeis, sobretudo, a partir das normas internacionais, torna o papel dos gatekeepers mais relevante na análise de todo o ciclo de elaboração das informações contábeis, dado que estas devem ser cotejadas não somente sob a ótica da técnica empregada, mas também do comprometimento ético existente nas organizações de modo a mitigar o efeito de um comportamento desonesto (Bonfim & Silva, 2019).…”

“…Os resultados possuem repercussões práticas em relação a atenção que deve pelas organizações ao tratarem das questões éticas e o processo de reconhecimento, mensuração e evidenciação das informações contábeis, pois à medida há um ambiente organizacional que possua falhas na conduta esperada de seus colaboradores (Bonfim & Silva, 2019;Kiradoo, 2020), inclusive aqueles envolvidos na área contábil, abre-se espaço para o cometimento de ações que reduzem a transparência dos relatórios contábeis e pelo aumento do gerenciamento de resultados.…”

Committed (dis)honesty: A systematic meta-analytic review of the divergent effects of social commitment to individuals or honesty oaths on dishonest behavior.

“…Cost–benefit analyses indicate that punishment can influence dishonest behavior (Mazar & Ariely, 2006) and particularly reduce it (e.g., Bonfim & Silva, 2019; Chirikov et al, 2020; Peer & Feldman, 2021). For example, Bonfim and Silva (2019) found that informing groups that their reported die rolls might be subject to an audit, which would reduce their earnings to zero if caught cheating, reduced dishonesty from 27% to 9%. Similarly, Peer and Feldman (2021) studied the effect of fines and honesty oaths on dishonest behavior.…”