Booth School of Business.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2021 Jan;120(1):33-56. doi: 10.1037/pspi0000242. Epub 2020 May 28.
Although honesty is typically conceptualized as a virtue, it often conflicts with other equally important moral values, such as avoiding interpersonal harm. In the present research, we explore when and why honesty enables helpful versus harmful behavior. Across 5 incentive-compatible experiments in the context of advice-giving and economic games, we document four central results. First, honesty enables selfish harm: people are more likely to engage in and justify selfish behavior when selfishness is associated with honesty than when it is not. Second, people are selectively honest: people are more likely to be honest when honesty is associated with selfishness than when honesty is associated with altruism. Third, these effects are more consistent with genuine, rather than motivated, preferences for honesty. Fourth, even when individuals have no selfish incentive to be honest, honesty can lead to interpersonal harm because people avoid information about how their honest behavior affects others. This research unearths new insights on the mechanisms underlying moral choice, and consequently, the contexts in which moral principles are a force of good versus a force of evil. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
虽然诚实通常被概念化为一种美德，但它常常与其他同样重要的道德价值观相冲突，例如避免人际伤害。在本研究中，我们探讨了何时以及为何诚实会导致有益或有害的行为。在涉及提供建议和经济博弈的 5 个激励相容实验中，我们记录了四个中心结果。首先，诚实会导致自私的伤害：当自私与诚实相关联时，人们更有可能从事和证明这种自私行为，而不是当它与诚实无关时。其次，人们是有选择性地诚实的：当诚实与自私相关联时，人们更有可能保持诚实，而当诚实与利他主义相关联时则不然。第三，这些影响更符合人们对诚实的真正动机，而不是出于动机的偏好。第四，即使个人没有诚实的自私动机，诚实也可能导致人际伤害，因为人们会避免了解自己诚实行为对他人的影响。这项研究揭示了道德选择背后机制的新见解，因此，道德原则在哪些情况下是善的力量，哪些情况下是恶的力量。
