Choice as justification for dishonesty

摘要

In this paper, we set up a laboratory experiment to study whether dishonesty is affected by the presence of a choice. In particular, a participant has the choice to self-select into an interaction in which a potential liar can lie at his expense. As a consequence, the potential liar might excuse his dishonesty with the following self-serving justification. The other participant could have averted the lie by deciding against the interaction and thus is responsible for the outcome. We find that the introduction of a choice does not significantly increase the probability of dishonest behavior.