Self-serving altruism? The lure of unethical actions that benefit others

Gino, Francesca; Ayal, Shahar; Ariely, Dan

doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2013.04.005

Cited by 321 publications

(261 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Yet, when the benefits of lying do not clearly outweigh those of honesty in the eyes of the target, prosocial lies can harm trust and moral judgments, and communicating benevolent intent may do little to mitigate these negative effects (Lupoli, Levine, & Greenberg, 2017). Other work has focused on predictors of prosocial lying: Research reveals that people are more likely to lie when others stand to gain (Gino, Ayal, & Ariely, 2013;Gino & Pierce, 2009;Wiltermuth, 2011), and prosocial lying is observed even when there is a cost to the self (Erat & Gneezy, 2012). Thus far, however, no work has examined what is likely a critical antecedent of prosocial lying: emotion, and in particular, the emotion of compassion.…”

Section: Prosocial and Selfish Lyingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lying because we care: Compassion increases prosocial lying.

Lupoli

Jampol

Oveis

2017

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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Prosocial lies, or lies intended to benefit others, are ubiquitous behaviors that have important social and economic consequences. Though emotions play a central role in many forms of prosocial behavior, no work has investigated how emotions influence behavior when one has the opportunity to tell a prosocial lie-a situation that presents a conflict between two prosocial ethics: lying to prevent harm to another, and honesty, which might also provide benefits to the target of the lie. Here, we examine whether the emotion of compassion influences prosocial lying, and find that compassion causally increases and positively predicts prosocial lying. In Studies 1 and 2, participants evaluated a poorly written essay and provided feedback to the essay writer. Experimentally induced compassion felt towards the essay writer (Study 1) and individual differences in trait compassion (Study 2) were positively associated with inflated feedback to the essay writer. In both of these studies, the relationship between compassion and prosocial lying was partially mediated by an enhanced desire to prevent emotional harm. In Study 3, we found moderation such that experimentally induced compassion increased lies that resulted in financial gains for a charity, but not lies that produced financial gains for the self. This research illuminates the emotional underpinnings of the common yet morally complex behavior of prosocial lying, and builds on work highlighting the potentially harmful effects of compassionan emotion typically seen as socially beneficial.

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Section: Prosocial and Selfish Lyingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lying because we care: Compassion increases prosocial lying.

Lupoli

Jampol

Oveis

2017

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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“…On the other hand, a number of findings support the view that collaboration might have a liberating effect, freeing people to behave unethically. People lie more when it improves not only their own (14)(15)(16), but also others' outcomes (17)(18)(19)(20)(21); when their lies benefit a cause or another person they care about (22); and group-serving dishonesty is modulated by oxytocin, a social bonding hormone (23). The idea that collaboration will increase dishonest behavior is in line with the functionalist approach to morality, which prescribes that people treat morality in a flexible manner, judging the same act as illegitimate or immoral in some cases, but legitimate or even moral in other cases, e.g., when it profits one's group members (24,25).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The collaborative roots of corruption

Weisel

Shalvi

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

257

271

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Cooperation is essential for completing tasks that individuals cannot accomplish alone. Whereas the benefits of cooperation are clear, little is known about its possible negative aspects. Introducing a novel sequential dyadic die-rolling paradigm, we show that collaborative settings provide fertile ground for the emergence of corruption. In the main experimental treatment the outcomes of the two players are perfectly aligned. Player A privately rolls a die, reports the result to player B, who then privately rolls and reports the result as well. Both players are paid the value of the reports if, and only if, they are identical (e.g., if both report 6, each earns €6). Because rolls are truly private, players can inflate their profit by misreporting the actual outcomes. Indeed, the proportion of reported doubles was 489% higher than the expected proportion assuming honesty, 48% higher than when individuals rolled and reported alone, and 96% higher than when lies only benefited the other player. Breaking the alignment in payoffs between player A and player B reduced the extent of brazen lying. Despite player B's central role in determining whether a double was reported, modifying the incentive structure of either player A or player B had nearly identical effects on the frequency of reported doubles. Our results highlight the role of collaboration-particularly on equal terms-in shaping corruption. These findings fit a functional perspective on morality. When facing opposing moral sentiments-to be honest vs. to join forces in collaboration-people often opt for engaging in corrupt collaboration.cooperation | corruption | decision making | behavioral ethics |

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“…Indeed, in her testimony, the mother indicated that she deliberately took the risk of punishment to improve her children's chances in life (20). Such motivation to serve others, it stands to reason, is more powerful and makes it easier to generate justification for moral code breaking than a motivation to serve personal interests only (even when holding personal profit constant) (21)(22)(23)(24).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxytocin promotes group-serving dishonesty

Shalvi

Dreu

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

156

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To protect and promote the well-being of others, humans may bend the truth and behave unethically. Here we link such tendencies to oxytocin, a neuropeptide known to promote affiliation and cooperation with others. Using a simple coin-toss prediction task in which participants could dishonestly report their performance levels to benefit their group's outcome, we tested the prediction that oxytocin increases group-serving dishonesty. A double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment allowing individuals to lie privately and anonymously to benefit themselves and fellow group members showed that healthy males (n = 60) receiving intranasal oxytocin, rather than placebo, lied more to benefit their group, and did so faster, yet did not necessarily do so because they expected reciprocal dishonesty from fellow group members. Treatment effects emerged when lying had financial consequences and money could be gained; when losses were at stake, individuals in placebo and oxytocin conditions lied to similar degrees. In a control condition (n = 60) in which dishonesty only benefited participants themselves, but not fellow group members, oxytocin did not influence lying. Together, these findings fit a functional perspective on morality revealing dishonesty to be plastic and rooted in evolved neurobiological circuitries, and align with work showing that oxytocin shifts the decision-maker's focus from self to group interests. These findings highlight the role of bonding and cooperation in shaping dishonesty, providing insight into when and why collaboration turns into corruption.decision making | behavioral economics | behavioral ethics | lies | honesty

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Self-serving altruism? The lure of unethical actions that benefit others

Cited by 321 publications

References 27 publications

Lying because we care: Compassion increases prosocial lying.

Lying because we care: Compassion increases prosocial lying.

The collaborative roots of corruption

Oxytocin promotes group-serving dishonesty

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