Honesty – We Are More Honest Than Psychologists Suggest
Understanding human conduct, especially how honest people are in their daily lives, has long been of interest to psychologists. A recent study, however, raises the possibility that humans are more truthful than previously believed.
Data from 17 distinct trials that examined honesty in diverse circumstances were analyzed for the study by academics at the University of Zurich. The scenarios in the studies included sharing money with others, reporting one’s own success on a task, and finding lost wallets. Overall, the researchers discovered that individuals were more sincere than what psychologists normally believe. For instance, only a small percentage of volunteers in tests when they had the option to cheat to increase their earnings did so. This study refutes earlier studies’ claims that cheating occurs frequently in daily life.
The researchers also discovered that while others are watching them, people tend to be more sincere. Intriguingly, the study also discovered that more honest people are typically happier and less stressed than less honest people. This shows that being honest may be advantageous for both individuals and society as a whole.
It is necessary to acknowledge that the study has some restrictions. For instance, the trials were carried out in a lab setting, which might not exactly reflect behavior in the actual world. Furthermore, since the study only examined honesty in a limited number of instances, it is plausible that people would be less honest in other circumstances. This shows that social standards have a significant impact on how we behave and that when we feel like others are observing us, we may be more likely to act honestly.
Honesty – a big word
Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the study offers an intriguing viewpoint on human behavior and casts doubt on some of the presumptions made by psychologists on honesty. It implies that people may be more trustworthy than we previously believed and that trustworthiness may be crucial to our wellbeing.
Another study done by Dr. Valerio Capraro from the University of Middlesex showed people are more naturally honest than psychologists suggest. Dr. Capraro recruited people from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Participants were either “receivers” or “senders” in two experiments. Totally 312 senders were grouped into two different categories. Each sender had a choice of telling a receiver which group they belong to. If a sender tells the truth, both receiver and sender will get $0.10, but if a sender chooses to lie, he would get $0.20, and the other person would get $0.09.
In a “control” experiment, senders were not assigned to two groups and didn’t have the option to lie or tell the truth. They were simply allowed to give the other person $0.10 and get the same amount or give the other person $0.09 and get $0.20. The first option was altruistic and the second one was a selfish choice.
In both cases, half participants who were senders had to decide what to do in 5 seconds and the other half had 30 seconds to make a decision.
In the control experiment, 25% of 372 participants went with the altruistic option, but in the first experiment, 56% of participants told the truth under time pressure, while 44% of those who had more time to think told the truth.
According to results of this study, telling the truth is the instinctive response, while deliberation seems to be linked to selfish behavior.