1. Dan Ariely believes that dishonesty is contagious and the majority of people cheat. So with his colleagues, he conducts experiments to see how common cheating is. His tests are called the "matrix task". The matrix task consists of 20 different matrices that the participants are trying to solve in 5 minutes. They get paid based on how many they can complete. This gives them a chance to cheat because they are trusted to correct their own answers. He also wondered if certain factors would push people to be more honest including moral guidelines. The results showed many people cheated in favor of winning more money and cheated less when being reminded of morality.
2. Now that its been proven that people commonly cheat, we are lead to wonder what triggers these acts of dishonesty.
3. My favorite part is when Dan Ariely states that charging on fraud and cheating on your insurance claim "may have a small effect on our behavior, but it is probably going to be of little consequence when it comes up against the brute psychological force of 'I'm only fudging a little" or 'Everyone does it" or "It's for the greater good" (Ariely, par. 14). I choose this quote because even though I don't have to worry about being tempted to cheat on insurance claims or taxes, I can really relate to these points. I can relate because he includes the phrases that I would say in my head if I was cheating. For example when he says "Everyone does it" that's something I would think to convince myself that what I did wasn't a big deal.
Works Cited
Ariely, Dan. "Why We Lie." The Bedford Reader (2014): 440-46. Print.
I commented on Eve's blog post and Porshia's blog post.
