Are the powerful more likely to cheat?
February 13, 2015 Comments Off on Are the powerful more likely to cheat?Read moreResearch has previously shown that upper-class individuals are more likely to behave unethically than lower-class people. But, says David Dubois, lead researcher of a new paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, it’s not that simple: both groups behave unethically in different contexts.
Dubois’ research group found that people with higher socioeconomic status (SES) were more likely to behave unethically when the behaviour benefitted themselves, while lower-SES people were more likely to be unethical to benefit other individuals. “Many people think of unethical behaviour in terms of selfish behaviour-violating moral standards to give yourself an advantage,” explains Jared Piazza, who was not involved with the research.