The influence of self and social image concerns on lying

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Basic, Zvonimir; Quercia, Simone
• 署名单位: Max Planck Society; University of Bonn; University of Verona
• 刊物名称: GAMES AND ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0899-8256
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2022.02.006
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 162-169
• 关键词: Truth-telling; Lying; private information; Self-image concerns; Social image concerns

摘要

We investigate the influence of self and social image concerns as potential sources of lying costs across two studies (n = 991). In Experiment 1, in a standard die-rolling paradigm, we exogenously manipulate self-awareness and observability, which direct the focus of a person on their private and public selves, respectively. We find that our self-awareness manipulation has no effect on overreporting in comparison to a control treatment, while our observability manipulation significantly decreases reports. In Experiment 2, we introduce a design that allows to compare the effects of self and social image concerns by directing the focus either on oneself or on an external observer while keeping constant the set of observers and their information. In line with the results from Experiment 1, people lie significantly less when their focus is on the external observer rather than on themselves. (C) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.