Abstract
Does honesty result from the absence of temptation or the active resistance of temptation? The “will’’ hypothesis suggests that honesty results from the active resistance of temptation, while the ”grace” hypothesis argues that honesty results from the absence of temptation. We examined reaction time and measured the cheating behavior of individuals who had a chance to lie for money. In study 1, we tested the “grace” hypothesis that honesty results from the absence of temptation and found a priming effect of moral constructs on increasing honest behavior. In study 2, we investigated the individual’s moral identity in the same context, articulating different mechanisms that lead people to behave ethically. The result confirms that the “grace” hypothesis was valid for people who had a high moral identity, while the “will” hypothesis was accurate for individuals who had a low moral identity.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 371-384 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Business Ethics |
Volume | 127 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2015 |
Scopus Subject Areas
- Business and International Management
- General Business,Management and Accounting
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Economics and Econometrics
- Law
User-Defined Keywords
- Cheating behavior
- Moral grace
- Moral identity
- Moral will
- Neural activity
- Reaction time