Effectiveness of ex ante honesty oaths in reducing dishonesty depends on content

Janis H Zickfeld; Karolina A Ścigała; Christian T Elbæk; John Michael; Mathilde H Tønnesen; Gabriel Levy; Shahar Ayal; Isabel Thielmann; Laila Nockur; Eyal Peer; Valerio Capraro; Rachel Barkan; Simen Bø; Štěpán Bahník; Daniele Nosenzo; Ralph Hertwig; Nina Mazar; Alexa Weiss; Ann-Kathrin Koessler; Ronit Montal-Rosenberg; Sebastian Hafenbrädl; Yngwie Asbjørn Nielsen; Patricia Kanngiesser; Simon Schindler; Philipp Gerlach; Nils Köbis; Nicolas Jacquemet; Marek Vranka; Dan Ariely; Jareef Bin Martuza; Yuval Feldman; Michał Białek; Jan K Woike; Zoe Rahwan; Alicia Seidl; Eileen Chou; Agne Kajackaite; Simeon Schudy; Ulrich Glogowsky; Anna Z Czarna; Stefan Pfattheicher; Panagiotis Mitkidis

doi:10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0

Effectiveness of ex ante honesty oaths in reducing dishonesty depends on content

Janis H Zickfeld
, Karolina A Ścigała
, Christian T Elbæk
, John Michael
, Mathilde H Tønnesen
, Gabriel Levy
, Shahar Ayal
, Isabel Thielmann
, Laila Nockur
, Eyal Peer
, Valerio Capraro
, Rachel Barkan
, Simen Bø
, Štěpán Bahník
, Daniele Nosenzo
, Ralph Hertwig
, Nina Mazar
, Alexa Weiss
, Ann-Kathrin Koessler
, Ronit Montal-Rosenberg

Sebastian Hafenbrädl, Yngwie Asbjørn Nielsen, Patricia Kanngiesser, Simon Schindler, Philipp Gerlach, Nils Köbis, Nicolas Jacquemet, Marek Vranka, Dan Ariely, Jareef Bin Martuza, Yuval Feldman, Michał Białek, Jan K Woike, Zoe Rahwan, Alicia Seidl, Eileen Chou, Agne Kajackaite, Simeon Schudy, Ulrich Glogowsky, Anna Z Czarna, Stefan Pfattheicher, Panagiotis Mitkidis

Aarhus University
University of Milan
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, NTNU Trondheim, Trondheim, Norway.
Reichman University
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
University of Milan - Bicocca
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Norwegian School of Economics
Prague University of Economics and Business
Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Boston University
Bielefeld University
Leibniz University Hannover
University of Navarra
Federal University of Applied Administrative Sciences
Fresenius University of Applied Sciences
University of Duisburg-Essen
Paris School of Economics
CES, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France.
Charles University
Duke University
Bar-Ilan University
University of Wrocław
University of Kaiserslautern-Landau
University of Virginia
Ulm University
CESifo Munich, Munich, Germany.
Johannes Kepler University Linz
Jagiellonian University in Kraków

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Dishonest behaviours such as tax evasion impose significant societal costs. Ex ante honesty oaths-commitments to honesty before action-have been proposed as interventions to counteract dishonest behaviour, but the heterogeneity in findings across operationalizations calls their effectiveness into question. We tested 21 honesty oaths (including a baseline oath)-proposed, evaluated and selected by 44 expert researchers-and a no-oath condition in a megastudy involving 21,506 UK and US participants from Prolific.com who played an incentivized tax evasion game online. Of the 21 interventions, 10 significantly improved tax compliance by 4.5 to 8.5 percentage points, with the most successful nearly halving tax evasion. Limited evidence for moderators was found. Experts and laypeople failed to predict the most effective interventions, though experts' predictions were more accurate. In conclusion, honesty oaths were effective in curbing dishonesty, but their effectiveness varied depending on content. These findings can help design impactful interventions to curb dishonesty.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	169-187
Number of pages	19
Journal	Nature Human Behaviour
Volume	9
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0
Publication status	Published - 21 Oct 2024

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Keywords

Adult
Deception
Female
Humans
Male
Taxes
United Kingdom
United States

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Zickfeld, J. H., Ścigała, K. A., Elbæk, C. T., Michael, J., Tønnesen, M. H., Levy, G., Ayal, S., Thielmann, I., Nockur, L., Peer, E., Capraro, V., Barkan, R., Bø, S., Bahník, Š., Nosenzo, D., Hertwig, R., Mazar, N., Weiss, A., Koessler, A.-K., ... Mitkidis, P. (2024). Effectiveness of ex ante honesty oaths in reducing dishonesty depends on content. Nature Human Behaviour, 9(1), 169-187. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0

@article{629a4612036a411f9f011e2e0ce15e6f,

title = "Effectiveness of ex ante honesty oaths in reducing dishonesty depends on content",

abstract = "Dishonest behaviours such as tax evasion impose significant societal costs. Ex ante honesty oaths-commitments to honesty before action-have been proposed as interventions to counteract dishonest behaviour, but the heterogeneity in findings across operationalizations calls their effectiveness into question. We tested 21 honesty oaths (including a baseline oath)-proposed, evaluated and selected by 44 expert researchers-and a no-oath condition in a megastudy involving 21,506 UK and US participants from Prolific.com who played an incentivized tax evasion game online. Of the 21 interventions, 10 significantly improved tax compliance by 4.5 to 8.5 percentage points, with the most successful nearly halving tax evasion. Limited evidence for moderators was found. Experts and laypeople failed to predict the most effective interventions, though experts' predictions were more accurate. In conclusion, honesty oaths were effective in curbing dishonesty, but their effectiveness varied depending on content. These findings can help design impactful interventions to curb dishonesty.",

keywords = "Adult, Deception, Female, Humans, Male, Taxes, United Kingdom, United States",

author = "Zickfeld, \{Janis H\} and {\'S}ciga{\l}a, \{Karolina A\} and Elb{\ae}k, \{Christian T\} and John Michael and T{\o}nnesen, \{Mathilde H\} and Gabriel Levy and Shahar Ayal and Isabel Thielmann and Laila Nockur and Eyal Peer and Valerio Capraro and Rachel Barkan and Simen B{\o} and {\v S}t{\v e}p{\'a}n Bahn{\'i}k and Daniele Nosenzo and Ralph Hertwig and Nina Mazar and Alexa Weiss and Ann-Kathrin Koessler and Ronit Montal-Rosenberg and Sebastian Hafenbr{\"a}dl and Nielsen, \{Yngwie Asbj{\o}rn\} and Patricia Kanngiesser and Simon Schindler and Philipp Gerlach and Nils K{\"o}bis and Nicolas Jacquemet and Marek Vranka and Dan Ariely and Martuza, \{Jareef Bin\} and Yuval Feldman and Micha{\l} Bia{\l}ek and Woike, \{Jan K\} and Zoe Rahwan and Alicia Seidl and Eileen Chou and Agne Kajackaite and Simeon Schudy and Ulrich Glogowsky and Czarna, \{Anna Z\} and Stefan Pfattheicher and Panagiotis Mitkidis",

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month = oct,

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doi = "10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0",

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Zickfeld, JH, Ścigała, KA, Elbæk, CT, Michael, J, Tønnesen, MH, Levy, G, Ayal, S, Thielmann, I, Nockur, L, Peer, E, Capraro, V, Barkan, R, Bø, S, Bahník, Š, Nosenzo, D, Hertwig, R, Mazar, N, Weiss, A, Koessler, A-K, Montal-Rosenberg, R, Hafenbrädl, S, Nielsen, YA, Kanngiesser, P, Schindler, S, Gerlach, P, Köbis, N, Jacquemet, N, Vranka, M, Ariely, D, Martuza, JB, Feldman, Y, Białek, M, Woike, JK, Rahwan, Z, Seidl, A, Chou, E, Kajackaite, A, Schudy, S, Glogowsky, U, Czarna, AZ, Pfattheicher, S & Mitkidis, P 2024, 'Effectiveness of ex ante honesty oaths in reducing dishonesty depends on content', Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 169-187. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0

TY - JOUR

T1 - Effectiveness of ex ante honesty oaths in reducing dishonesty depends on content

AU - Zickfeld, Janis H

AU - Ścigała, Karolina A

AU - Elbæk, Christian T

AU - Michael, John

AU - Tønnesen, Mathilde H

AU - Levy, Gabriel

AU - Ayal, Shahar

AU - Thielmann, Isabel

AU - Nockur, Laila

AU - Peer, Eyal

AU - Capraro, Valerio

AU - Barkan, Rachel

AU - Bø, Simen

AU - Bahník, Štěpán

AU - Nosenzo, Daniele

AU - Hertwig, Ralph

AU - Mazar, Nina

AU - Weiss, Alexa

AU - Koessler, Ann-Kathrin

AU - Montal-Rosenberg, Ronit

AU - Hafenbrädl, Sebastian

AU - Nielsen, Yngwie Asbjørn

AU - Kanngiesser, Patricia

AU - Schindler, Simon

AU - Gerlach, Philipp

AU - Köbis, Nils

AU - Jacquemet, Nicolas

AU - Vranka, Marek

AU - Ariely, Dan

AU - Martuza, Jareef Bin

AU - Feldman, Yuval

AU - Białek, Michał

AU - Woike, Jan K

AU - Rahwan, Zoe

AU - Seidl, Alicia

AU - Chou, Eileen

AU - Kajackaite, Agne

AU - Schudy, Simeon

AU - Glogowsky, Ulrich

AU - Czarna, Anna Z

AU - Pfattheicher, Stefan

AU - Mitkidis, Panagiotis

PY - 2024/10/21

Y1 - 2024/10/21

N2 - Dishonest behaviours such as tax evasion impose significant societal costs. Ex ante honesty oaths-commitments to honesty before action-have been proposed as interventions to counteract dishonest behaviour, but the heterogeneity in findings across operationalizations calls their effectiveness into question. We tested 21 honesty oaths (including a baseline oath)-proposed, evaluated and selected by 44 expert researchers-and a no-oath condition in a megastudy involving 21,506 UK and US participants from Prolific.com who played an incentivized tax evasion game online. Of the 21 interventions, 10 significantly improved tax compliance by 4.5 to 8.5 percentage points, with the most successful nearly halving tax evasion. Limited evidence for moderators was found. Experts and laypeople failed to predict the most effective interventions, though experts' predictions were more accurate. In conclusion, honesty oaths were effective in curbing dishonesty, but their effectiveness varied depending on content. These findings can help design impactful interventions to curb dishonesty.

AB - Dishonest behaviours such as tax evasion impose significant societal costs. Ex ante honesty oaths-commitments to honesty before action-have been proposed as interventions to counteract dishonest behaviour, but the heterogeneity in findings across operationalizations calls their effectiveness into question. We tested 21 honesty oaths (including a baseline oath)-proposed, evaluated and selected by 44 expert researchers-and a no-oath condition in a megastudy involving 21,506 UK and US participants from Prolific.com who played an incentivized tax evasion game online. Of the 21 interventions, 10 significantly improved tax compliance by 4.5 to 8.5 percentage points, with the most successful nearly halving tax evasion. Limited evidence for moderators was found. Experts and laypeople failed to predict the most effective interventions, though experts' predictions were more accurate. In conclusion, honesty oaths were effective in curbing dishonesty, but their effectiveness varied depending on content. These findings can help design impactful interventions to curb dishonesty.

KW - Adult

KW - Deception

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Taxes

KW - United Kingdom

KW - United States

UR - https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/hctxe

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85207022864

UR - https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/psy-research/1134/

U2 - 10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0

DO - 10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0

M3 - Article

C2 - 39433937

SN - 2397-3374

VL - 9

SP - 169

EP - 187

JO - Nature Human Behaviour

JF - Nature Human Behaviour

IS - 1

ER -

Effectiveness of ex ante honesty oaths in reducing dishonesty depends on content

Abstract

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Keywords

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