Abstract
Are risk-takers more likely to engage in unethical behaviors? We examined the relationship between risk-taking propensity and cheating in two experimental studies. In Study 1, we examined the relationship between subjects’ risk-taking propensity and their actual self-serving dishonesty using a gambling-like task. The results suggested that risk-taking propensity, measured using a behavioral approach, was positively correlated with actual self-serving dishonest behavior. In Study 2, we measured participants’ performances using a matrices test and found that the positive correlation still held. We found that participants with high risk-taking propensity reported a lower perceived probability of being detected, which might drive their dishonest behavior.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 557-571 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Ethics and Behavior |
Volume | 29 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 3 Oct 2019 |
Scopus Subject Areas
- Social Psychology
- General Psychology
User-Defined Keywords
- behavioral task
- dishonest behavior
- experimental study
- risk-taking propensity