Do groups lie more than individuals? Honesty and deception as a function of strategic self-interest

Taya R. Cohen; Brian C. Gunia; Sun Young Kim-Jun; J. Keith Murnighan

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.08.007

Do groups lie more than individuals? Honesty and deception as a function of strategic self-interest

Taya R. Cohen^*, Brian C. Gunia, Sun Young Kim-Jun, J. Keith Murnighan

^*Corresponding author for this work

Management and Organizations

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

76 Scopus citations

Abstract

An experiment tested whether groups lie more than individuals. Groups lied more than individuals when deception was guaranteed to maximize economic outcomes, but lied relatively less than individuals when honesty could be used strategically. These results suggest that groups are more strategic than individuals in that they will adopt whatever course of action best serves their economic interest.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1321-1324
Number of pages	4
Journal	Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Volume	45
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.08.007
State	Published - Nov 2009

Keywords

Deception
Ethics
Groups
Honesty
Interindividual-intergroup discontinuity
Morality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Sociology and Political Science

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10.1016/j.jesp.2009.08.007

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abstract = "An experiment tested whether groups lie more than individuals. Groups lied more than individuals when deception was guaranteed to maximize economic outcomes, but lied relatively less than individuals when honesty could be used strategically. These results suggest that groups are more strategic than individuals in that they will adopt whatever course of action best serves their economic interest.",

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Do groups lie more than individuals? Honesty and deception as a function of strategic self-interest

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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