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Dishonesty

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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible

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Abstract

Dishonesty can be broadly defined as any behavior that violates what most people deem acceptable or that breaks the rules. While initially confined to clear violations, such as cheating and stealing, research now also considers lack of reciprocity, failure to restrict energy consumption, and exploiting loopholes as dishonest behaviors. Given the breadth of these behaviors, scholars from psychology and neighboring fields have developed novel theoretical and empirical approaches to understand what drives good people to do bad things, and what can be done about it. This entry is not limited to a review of this literature. Rather, it discusses some of the processes in which dishonesty can make “the impossible possible,” such as bending the rules while feeling honest, unconsciously lying to ourselves, seeing reality in self-serving ways, and even promoting creativity. It will conclude with the discussion of some current research on how dishonesty can be curbed in real-life settings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Andrea Pittarello

  2. Frank G. Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA

    Daphna Motro

Authors
  1. Andrea Pittarello
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  2. Daphna Motro
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Correspondence to Andrea Pittarello .

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy

    Sergio Agnoli

  2. Marconi Institute for Creativity, Sasso Marconi, Italy

    Sergio Agnoli

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Pittarello, A., Motro, D. (2022). Dishonesty. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98390-5_220-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98390-5_220-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-98390-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-98390-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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