Zickfeld Janis H, Ścigała Karolina A, Elbæk Christian T, Michael John, Tønnesen Mathilde H, Levy Gabriel, Ayal Shahar, Thielmann Isabel, Nockur Laila, Peer Eyal, Capraro Valerio, Barkan Rachel, Bø Simen, Bahník Štěpán, Nosenzo Daniele, Hertwig Ralph, Mazar Nina, Weiss Alexa, Koessler Ann-Kathrin, Montal-Rosenberg Ronit, Hafenbrädl Sebastian, Nielsen Yngwie Asbjørn, Kanngiesser Patricia, Schindler Simon, Gerlach Philipp, Köbis Nils, Jacquemet Nicolas, Vranka Marek, Ariely Dan, Martuza Jareef Bin, Feldman Yuval, Białek Michał, Woike Jan K, Rahwan Zoe, Seidl Alicia, Chou Eileen, Kajackaite Agne, Schudy Simeon, Glogowsky Ulrich, Czarna Anna Z, Pfattheicher Stefan, Mitkidis Panagiotis
Department of Management, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Nat Hum Behav. 2025 Jan;9(1):169-187. doi: 10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0. Epub 2024 Oct 21.
Dishonest behaviours such as tax evasion impose significant societal costs. Ex ante honesty oaths-commitments to honesty before action-have been proposed as interventions to counteract dishonest behaviour, but the heterogeneity in findings across operationalizations calls their effectiveness into question. We tested 21 honesty oaths (including a baseline oath)-proposed, evaluated and selected by 44 expert researchers-and a no-oath condition in a megastudy involving 21,506 UK and US participants from Prolific.com who played an incentivized tax evasion game online. Of the 21 interventions, 10 significantly improved tax compliance by 4.5 to 8.5 percentage points, with the most successful nearly halving tax evasion. Limited evidence for moderators was found. Experts and laypeople failed to predict the most effective interventions, though experts' predictions were more accurate. In conclusion, honesty oaths were effective in curbing dishonesty, but their effectiveness varied depending on content. These findings can help design impactful interventions to curb dishonesty.
诸如逃税等不诚实行为会给社会带来巨大成本。事前诚实誓言——即在行动前承诺诚实——已被提议作为应对不诚实行为的干预措施，但不同实施方式下研究结果的异质性令人对其有效性产生质疑。我们在一项大型研究中测试了21种诚实誓言（包括一个基线誓言）——由44位专家研究人员提出、评估和挑选——以及一个无誓言条件，该研究涉及来自Prolific.com的21506名英国和美国参与者，他们在线玩了一个有激励机制的逃税游戏。在这21种干预措施中，有10种显著提高了纳税合规率4.5至8.5个百分点，最成功的措施几乎使逃税减半。发现的调节因素证据有限。专家和外行未能预测出最有效的干预措施，不过专家的预测更准确。总之，诚实誓言在遏制不诚实行为方面是有效的，但其有效性因内容而异。这些发现有助于设计出有影响力的干预措施来遏制不诚实行为。
