Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Lying to Level the Playing Field: Why People May Dishonestly Help or Hurt Others to Create Equity

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Unethical and dishonest behavior has increasingly attracted the attention of scholars from various disciplines. Recent work has begun to focus on a previous overlooked factor predicting dishonest behavior: the beneficiary or victim of dishonest acts. In two laboratory experiments, we manipulate the level of resources allocated to our participants (their “wealth”) and investigate whether perceived inequity from wealth that is randomly or subjectively assigned leads individuals to cross ethical boundaries through helping or hurting others. The results show that dishonest behavior is influenced by positive and negative inequity that motivates helping and hurting acts. Furthermore, a third experiment shows that people tend to discount the wrongness of crossing ethical boundaries to hurt or help others when the action restores equity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams, J. S.: 1965, ‘Inequity in social exchange.’ In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 267-299). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beauchamp, T. L., and Bowie, N. E. (Eds.): 2004, Ethical theory and business (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, S., Shechter, D., and Chaiken, S.: 1996, ‘Getting at the truth or getting along: accuracy- versus impression motivated heuristic and systematic processing.’ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 262–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cullen, J. B., Victor, B., and Bronson, J. W.: 1993, ‘The ethical climate questionnaire: An assessment of its development and validity.’ Psychological Reports, 73, 667-674.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dies, D., and Giroux, G.: 1992, ‘Determinants of audit quality in the public sector.’ Accounting Review, 67(3), 462–479.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duggan, M., and Levitt, S.: 2002, ‘Winning isn’t everything: Corruption in sumo wrestling.’ The American Economic Review, 92 (5), 1594-1605.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fehr, E., and Gachter, S.: 2000, ‘Fairness and retaliation: The economics of reciprocity.’ Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14 (3), 159-181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R. A.: 1922, ‘On the interpretation of χ2 from contingency tables, and the calculation of P.’ Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 85(1), 87-94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald, J., and Teasley, A. B.: 1986, ‘Effects of instruction in narrative structure on children’s writing.’ Journal of Educational Psychology, 78(6), 424-432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flannery, B. and May, D.: 2000, ‘Environmental ethical decision making in the U.S. metal-finishing industry.’ Academy of Management Journal, 43, 642-662.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, R.C., and Richardson, W. D.: 1994, ‘Ethical decision making: an overview of the empirical literature.’ Journal of Business Ethics, 13, 205-221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gazzaniga, M. S.: 1985, The social brain, Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gino, F., and Pierce, L.: 2009, ‘Dishonesty in the name of equity.’ Psychological Science, 20(9), 1153-1160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gino, F. and L. Pierce: 2010, ‘Robin Hood Under the Hood: Wealth-Based Discrimination in Illicit Customer Help’, Organization Science 21, 1176–1194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gollwitzer, P. M., Heckhausen, H., and Steller, B.: 1990, ‘Deliberative and implemental mind-sets: Cognitive tuning toward congruous thoughts and information.’ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(6), 1119-1127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, J.: 1988, ‘Equity and workplace status: A field experiment.’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 73, 600-613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greene, J., and Haidt, J.: 2002, ‘How (and Where) does moral judgment work?’ Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6(12), 517-523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haidt, J: 2001, ‘The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment.’ Psychological Review, 108, 814-834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Homans, G.: 1974, Social behavior: Its elementary forms. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsee, C. K.: 1995, ‘Elastic justification: How tempting but task irrelevant factors influence decisions.’ Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 62, 330-337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsee, C. K.: 1996, ‘Elastic justification: How unjustifiable factors influence judgments.’ Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 66, 122-129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huseman, R. C., Hatfield, J. D., and Miles, E. W.: 1987, ‘A new perspective on equity theory: The equity sensitivity construct.’ Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 222-234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, T. M.: 1991, ‘Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contingent model.’ Academy of Management Review, 16, 366-395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kish-Gephart, J. J., Harrison, D. A., and Trevino, L. K.: 2010, ‘Bad apples, bad cases, and bad barrels: meta-analytic evidence about sources of unethical decisions at work.’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 1-31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, L.: 1981, The philosophy of moral development: Moral stages and the idea of justice. San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kunda, Z.: 1990, ‘The case for motivated reasoning.’ Psychological Bulletin, 108, 480-498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazear, E. P.: 1989, ‘Pay equality and industrial politics.’ Journal of Political Economy, 97(3), 561-580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewicki, R. J.: 1983, ‘Lying and deception: a behavioral model.’ In M. H. Bazerman and R. J. Lewicki (Eds.), Negotiating in organizations. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewicki, R. J., and Robinson, R. J.: 1998, ‘Ethical and unethical bargaining tactics: An empirical study.’ Journal of Business Ethics, 17, 665-682.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loe, T.W., Ferrell, L., and Mansfield, P.: 2000, ‘A review of empirical studies assessing ethical decision making in business.’ Journal of Business Ethics, 25, 185-204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma, C. A., and Maguire, T. G.: 1997, ‘Optimal health insurance and provider payment.’ American Economic Review, 87(4), 685–704.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mautz, R., and Sharaf, H.: 1961, The Philosophy of Auditing. American Accounting Association, Sarasota, FL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moslemi, M. H.: 1975, ‘The grading of creative writing essays.’ Research in the Teaching of English, 9, 154-161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nickerson, J., and Zenger, T.: 2008, ‘Envy, comparison costs, and the economic theory of the firm.’ Strategic Management Journal, 29(13), 1429-1449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nisbett, R. E., and Wilson, T. D.: 1977, ‘Telling more than We Can know: verbal reports on mental processes.’ Psychological Review, 84, 231–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, L. and J. A. Snyder: 2008, ‘Ethical Spillovers in Firms: Evidence from Vehicle Emissions Testing’, Management Science 54(11), 1891–1903.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prendergast, C.: 1999, ‘The provision of incentives in firms.’ Journal of Economic Literature, 37, 7-63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rest, J. R.: 1986, Moral development: Advances in research and theory. New York, NY: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, S. J.: 2006a, ‘Moral awareness and ethical predispositions: Investigating the role of individual differences in the recognition of moral issues.’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(1), 233-243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, S. J.: 2006b, ‘A neurocognitive model of the ethical decision-making process: Implications for study and practice.’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4), 737-748.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, R. J., Lewicki, R. J., and Donahue, E. M.: 2000, ‘Extending and testing a five factor model of ethical and unethical bargaining tactics: Introducing the SINS scale.’ Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 649-664.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schevitz, T.: 2001, ‘UC Chief Urged to Fire Berkeley Professor: He gave Football Players Credit for no Work’, San Francisco Chronicle, March 16, 2001.

  • Schminke, M., Ambrose, M. L., and Neubaum, D. O.: 2005, ‘The effects of leader moral development on ethical climate and employee attitudes.’ Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97, 135-151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarzwald, J., Koslowsky, M., and Shalit, B.: 1992, ‘A field study of employees’ attitudes and behaviors after promotion decisions.’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 511-514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweitzer, M. E., and Croson, R.: 1999, ‘Curtailing deception: The impact of direct questions on lies and omissions.’ International Journal of Conflict Management, 10, 225-248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweitzer, M. E. and Hsee, C. K.: 2002, ‘Stretching the truth: Elastic justification and motivated communication of uncertain information.’ The Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 25, 185-201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweitzer, M. E., Ordonez, L., and Douma, B.: 2004, ‘Goal setting as a motivator of unethical behavior.’ Academy of Management Journal, 47, 422–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, J. A.: 2010, ‘Gaming the Liver Transplant Market’, Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 26(3), 546–568.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tenbrunsel, A.: 1998, ‘Misrepresentation and expectations of misrepresentation in an ethical dilemma: The role of incentives and temptation.’ Academy of Management Journal, 41, 330-339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tenbrunsel, A. E., and Smith-Crowe, K.: 2008, ‘Ethical decision making: Where We’ve Been and where We’re going.’ The Academy of Management Annals, 2, 545-607.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tetlock, P., Kristel, O., Elson, B., Green, M., and Lerner, J.: 2000, ‘The psychology of the unthinkable: taboo trade-offs, forbidden base rates, and heretical counterfactuals.’ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 853–870.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treviño, L. K., Weaver, G. R., and Reynolds, S. J.: 2006, ‘Behavioral ethics in organizations: A review.’ Journal of Management, 32, 951-990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Lange, P. A. M.: 1999, ‘The pursuit of joint outcomes and equality in outcomes: An integrative model of social value orientations.’ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 337–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, G., Trevino, L., and Cochran, P.: 1999, ‘Corporate ethics practices in the mid-1990’s: An empirical study of the Fortune 1000.’ Journal of Business Ethics, 18, 283-294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, J.: 1995, ‘Influences upon organizational ethical subclimates: A multi-departmental analysis of a single firm.’ Organizational Science, 6, 509-523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zenger, T.: 1992, ‘Why do employers only reward extreme performance? Examining the relationships among performance, pay and turnover.’ Administrative Science Quarterly, 37 (2), 198-219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Business School, Boston, MA, U.S.A.

    Francesca Gino

  2. Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.

    Lamar Pierce

Authors
  1. Francesca Gino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lamar Pierce
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesca Gino.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gino, F., Pierce, L. Lying to Level the Playing Field: Why People May Dishonestly Help or Hurt Others to Create Equity. J Bus Ethics 95 (Suppl 1), 89–103 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0792-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0792-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation