How Much Does Honesty Cost? Small Bonuses Can Motivate Ethical Behavior

What is it about?

Although people generally try to avoid lying, the lure of potential monetary payoffs often leads to unethical behavior. The current research investigates whether small monetary rewards for honesty help people resist the temptations of larger incentives or whether they backfire and lead to even more dishonesty. Four experiments address these issues.

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Why is it important?

Our results suggest that small monetary rewards are effective in stimulating honesty even in the presence of much larger incentives for lying. This research provides new insights into the psychological meaning of money; it also has practical implications for rewarding ethical behavior in organizations.