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.
I like your response it's very organized and detailed, I'm wondering now if I did mine wrong... By the way, you spelled paid wrong, you spelled it payed.
ReplyDeletethanks Andrea!
DeleteGood job summarizing the key ideas from the article. I did note "matrix" was in quotes, which could indicate that this comes directly from the source. Be sure that when you use anything from the source, that you include an in-text citation, similar to the one in your last paragraph, at the end of the summary. I like the connection you're making with your own personal life in connection with what the author wrote. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tips. I will keep that in mind for next time.
DeleteI like the connection you made. I can relate to that too and sadly I think a lot of people can. I also really like how detailed your summary it was.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback, the summary was the most challenging for me so I'm glad it payed off.
DeleteI completely agree wit the Everyone Does it part of your response, when I do cheat I say that, even though I hardly ever do.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sadly it's pretty common.
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