Despite substantial research on cheating, how and when individual predispositions figure into cheating behavior remains unclear. In Study 1, we investigated to what extent Honesty-Humility predicted cheating behavior. As expected, individuals high on Honesty-Humility were less likely to cheat than were individuals low on this trait. In Study 2, integrating arguments from personality research about traits with arguments from behavioral ethics about moral primes, we examined how Honesty-Humility and situational primes interacted to affect cheating. We found an interaction indicating that individuals high on Honesty-Humility consistently did not cheat much across situational primes, whereas individuals low on Honesty-Humility cheated more when exposed to immoral primes than when exposed to moral primes. Our research invites reflection about the interplay of individual differences in Honesty-Humility and situational cues in predicting cheating, including the design of anti-cheating systems and the context in which these person and situation factors interact.
AckermanP. L. (1997). Personality, self-concept, interests, and intelligence: Which construct doesn’t fit?Journal of Personality, 65, 171-205. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1997.tb00952.x
3.
AllgaierK.ZettlerI.WagnerW.PüttmannS.TrautweinU. (2015). Honesty–Humility in school: Exploring main and interaction effects on secondary school students’ antisocial and prosocial behavior. Learning and Individual Differences, 43, 211-217. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2015.08.005
4.
AshtonM. C.LeeK. (2001). A theoretical basis for the major dimensions of personality. European Journal of Personality, 15, 327-353. doi:10.1002/per.417
5.
AshtonM. C.LeeK. (2007). Empirical, theoretical, and practical advantages of the HEXACO model of personality structure. Personality and Social Psychological Review, 11, 150-166. doi:10.1177/1088868306294907
6.
AshtonM. C.LeeK. (2009). The HEXACO-60: A short measure of the major dimensions of personality. Journal of Personality Assessment, 91, 340-345. doi:10.1080/00223890902935878
7.
AshtonM. C.LeeK.PeruginiM.SzarotaP.de VriesR. E.Di BlasL.. . . De RaadB. (2004). A six-factor structure of personality-descriptive adjectives: Solutions from psycholexical studies in seven languages. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 356-366. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.86.2.356
8.
BackM. D.SchmukleS. C.EgloffB. (2009). Predicting actual behavior from the explicit and implicit self-concept of personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 533-548. doi:10.1037/a0016229
9.
BanduraA. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
10.
BendahanS.ZehnderC.PralongF. P.AntonakisJ. (2015). Leader corruption depends on power and testosterone. The Leadership Quarterly, 26, 101-122. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.07.010
11.
BlevinsD. P.TsangE. W.SpainS. M. (2015). Count-based research in management: Suggestions for improvement. Organizational Research Methods, 18, 47-69. doi:10.1177/1094428114549601
12.
BucciolA.PiovesanM. (2011). Luck or cheating? A field experiment on honesty with children. Journal of Economic Psychology, 32, 73-78. doi:10.1016/j.joep.2010.12.001
13.
ChurchB.GaaJ. C.Khalid NainarS. M.ShehataM. M. (2005). Experimental evidence relating to the person-situation interactionist model of ethical decision making. Business Ethics Quarterly, 15, 363-383. doi:10.5840/beq200515322
14.
CohenJ.CohenP.WestS. G.AikenL. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
15.
FischbacherU.Föllmi-HeusiF. (2013). Lies in disguise—An experimental study on cheating. Journal of the European Economic Association, 11, 525-547. doi:10.1111/jeea.12014
16.
FunderD. C. (2008). Persons, situations, and person–situation interactions. In JohnO. P.RobinsR. W.PervinL. A. (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3rd ed., pp. 568-580). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
17.
GächterS.SchulzJ. F. (2016). Intrinsic honesty and the prevalence of rule violations across societies. Nature, 531, 496-499. doi:10.1038/nature17160
18.
GillD.ProwseV.VlassopoulosM. (2013). Cheating in the workplace: An experimental study of the impact of bonuses and productivity. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 96, 120-134. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2013.09.011
19.
GinoF.AyalS.ArielyD. (2009). Contagion and differentiation in unethical behavior: The effect of one bad apple on the barrel. Psychological Science, 20, 393-398. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02306.x
20.
GinoF.GalinskyA. D. (2012). Vicarious dishonesty: When psychological closeness creates distance from one’s moral compass. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 119(1), 15-26. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2012.03.011
21.
GinoF.KrupkaE. L.WeberR. A. (2013). License to cheat: Voluntary regulation and ethical behavior. Management Science, 59, 2187-2203. doi:10.1287/mnsc.1120.1699
22.
GinoF.PierceL. (2009). The abundance effect: Unethical behavior in the presence of wealth. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109, 142-155. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.03.003
23.
HeckmanJ. J. (1979). Sample selection bias as a specification error. Econometrica, 47, 153-161. doi:10.2307/1912352
24.
HershfieldH. E.CohenT. R.ThompsonL. (2012). Short horizons and tempting situations: Lack of continuity to our future selves leads to unethical decision making and behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 117, 298-310. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.11.002
25.
HilbigB. E.MoshagenM.ZettlerI. (2016). Prediction consistency: A test of the equivalence assumption across different indicators of the same construct. European Journal of Personality, 30, 637-647. doi:10.1002/per.2085
26.
HilbigB. E.ZettlerI. (2009). Pillars of cooperation: Honesty–Humility, social value orientations, and economic behavior. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 516-519. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2009.01.003
27.
HilbigB. E.ZettlerI. (2015). When the cat’s away, some mice will play: A basic trait account of dishonest behavior. Journal of Research in Personality, 57, 72-88. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2015.04.003
28.
HilbigB. E.ZettlerI.HeydaschT. (2012). Personality, punishment and public goods: Strategic shifts towards cooperation as a matter of dispositional Honesty–Humility. European Journal of Personality, 26, 245-254. doi:10.1002/per.830
29.
HildrethJ. A. D.GinoF.BazermanM. (2016). Blind loyalty? When group loyalty makes us see evil or engage in it. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 132, 16-36. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2015.10.001
30.
JohnL. K.LoewensteinG.RickS. I. (2014). Cheating more for less: Upward social comparisons motivate the poorly compensated to cheat. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 123, 101-109. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2013.08.002
31.
KeizerK.LindenbergS.StegL. (2008). The spreading of disorder. Science, 322, 1681-1685. doi:10.1126/science.1161405
32.
KihlstromJ. F. (2013). The person-situation interaction. In CarlstonD. (Ed.), Oxford handbook of social cognition (pp. 786-805). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
33.
LeeK.AshtonM. C. (2004). Psychometric properties of the HEXACO Personality Inventory. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39, 329-358. doi:10.1207/s15327906mbr3902_8
34.
LeeK.AshtonM. C. (2005). Psychopathy, machiavellianism, and narcissism in the Five-Factor Model and the HEXACO model of personality structure. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 1571-1582. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2004.09.016
35.
LeeK.AshtonM. C.de VriesR. E. (2005). Predicting workplace delinquency and integrity with the HEXACO and Five-Factor Models of personality structure. Human Performance, 18, 179-197. doi:10.1207/s15327043hup1802_4
36.
LeeK.AshtonM. C.MorrisonD. L.CorderyJ.DunlopP. D. (2008). Predicting integrity with the HEXACO personality model: Use of self- and observer reports. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 81, 147-167. doi:10.1348/096317907X195175
37.
LeeK.AshtonM. C. (2008). The HEXACO personality factors in the indigenous personality lexicons of English and 11 other languages. Journal of Personality, 76, 1001-1053. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00512.x
38.
LeeK.AshtonM. C.ShinK. H. (2005). Personality correlates of workplace anti-social behavior. Applied Psychology, 54, 81-98. doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2005.00197.x
39.
LewisG. J.BatesT. C. (2014). How genes influence personality: Evidence from multi-facet twin analyses of the HEXACO dimensions. Journal of Research in Personality, 51, 9-17. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2014.04.004
40.
LoewenP. J.DawesC. T.MazarN.JohannessonM.KoellingerP.MagnussonP. K. (2013). The heritability of moral standards for everyday dishonesty. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 93, 363-366. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2013.05.001
41.
MarcusB.LeeK.AshtonM. C. (2007). Personality dimensions explaining relationships between integrity tests and counterproductive behavior: Big Five, or one in addition?Personnel Psychology, 60, 1-34. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2007.00063.x
42.
MazarN.AmirO.ArielyD. (2008). The dishonesty of honest people: A theory of self-concept maintenance. Journal of Marketing Research, 45, 633-644. doi:10.1509/jmkr.45.6.633
43.
McCraeR. R.CostaP. T. (1982). Self-concept and the stability of personality: Cross-sectional comparisons of self-reports and ratings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 1282-1292. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.43.6.1282
44.
MeadN. L.BaumeisterR. F.GinoF.SchweitzerM. E.ArielyD. (2009). Too tired to tell the truth: Self-control resource depletion and dishonesty. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 594-597. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.02.004
45.
MischelW. (1968). Personality and assessment. New York, NY: John Wiley.
46.
MischelW. (1977). The interaction of person and situation. In MagnussonD.EndlerN. S. (Eds.), Personality at the crossroads: Current issues in interactional psychology (pp. 333-352). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
47.
MorrisM. W.PengK. (1994). Culture and cause: American and Chinese attributions for social and physical events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 949-971. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.6.949
48.
MulderL. B.AquinoK. (2013). The role of moral identity in the aftermath of dishonesty. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 121, 219-230. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2013.03.005
49.
OhI. S.LeeK.AshtonM. C.de VriesR. E. (2011). Are dishonest extraverts more harmful than dishonest introverts? The interaction effects of Honesty–Humility and extraversion in predicting workplace deviance. Applied Psychology, 60, 496-516. doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2011.00445.x
50.
PfattheicherS.BöhmR. (2017). Honesty–Humility under threat: Self-uncertainty destroys trust among the nice guys. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/pspp0000144
51.
RosenbaumS. M.BillingerS.StieglitzN. (2014). Let’s be honest: A review of experimental evidence of honesty and truth-telling. Journal of Economic Psychology, 45, 181-196. doi:10.1016/j.joep.2014.10.002
52.
ShalviS.DanaJ.HandgraafM. J. J.De DreuC. K. W. (2011). Justified ethicality: Observing desired counterfactuals modifies ethical perceptions and behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 115, 181-190. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.02.001
53.
ShalviS.EldarO.Bereby-MeyerY. (2012). Honesty requires time (and lack of justifications). Psychological Science, 23, 1264-1270. doi:10.1177/0956797612443835
54.
ShalviS.HandgraafM. J. J.De DreuC. K. W. (2011). Ethical manoeuvring: Why people avoid both major and minor lies. British Journal of Management, 22, S16-S27. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8551.2010.00709.x
55.
ShavelsonR. J.HubnerJ. J.StantonG. C. (1976). Self-concept: Validation of construct interpretations. Review of Educational Research, 46, 407-441. doi:10.3102/00346543046003407
56.
ShenW. N.KigerT. B.DaviesS. E.RaschR. L.SimonK. M.OnesD. S. (2011). Samples in applied psychology: Over a decade of research in review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96, 1055-1064. doi:10.1037/a0023322
SimmonsJ. P.NelsonL. D.SimonsohnU. (2013, January). Life after P-hacking. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA.
59.
ThielmannI.HilbigB. E.ZettlerI.MoshagenM. (2016). On measuring the sixth basic personality dimension: A comparison between HEXACO Honesty-Humility and Big Six Honesty-Propriety. Assessment. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/1073191116638411
60.
WadsworthG. P. (1960). Introduction to probability and random variables. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
61.
WiltermuthS. S. (2011). Cheating more when the spoils are split. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 115, 157-168. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2010.10.001
ZettlerI.HilbigB. E. (2010). Honesty–Humility and a person–situation interaction at work. European Journal of Personality, 24, 569-582. doi:10.1002/per.757
64.
ZettlerI.HilbigB. E.HeydaschT. (2013). Two sides of one coin: Honesty–Humility and situational factors mutually shape social dilemma decision making. Journal of Research in Personality, 47, 286-295. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2013.01.012
65.
ZizzoD. J. (2010). Experimenter demand effects in economic experiments. Experimental Economics, 13, 75-98. doi:10.1007/s10683-009-9230-z
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
