Dishonesty in the Name of Equity

摘要

Under what conditions do people act dishon_estly to help or hurt others? We addressed this question by examining the influence of a previously overlooked factor_the beneficiary or victim of dishonest acts. In two experiments, we randomly paired participants and ma_nipulated their wealth levels through an initial lottery. We then observed how inequity between partners influenced the likelihood of one dishonestly helping or hurting the other, while varying the financial incentives for dishonest behavior. The results show that financial self-interest cannot fully explain people's tendency to dishonestly help or hurt others. Rather, such dishonesty is influenced by emotional reactions to wealth-based inequity, even when the dishonesty bears a personal financial cost. Envy evoked by negative inequity led to hurting behavior, whereas guilt induced by positive inequity motivated helping behavior. Finally, inequity between the partner and third parties triggered dishonest helping through empathy with the partner.