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We cheat, because its the easiest thing to do - 25-Nov-2010
Toronto: Ever wondered why do people behave immorally? May be it's just too easy, say scientists.
Many people say they wouldn't cheat in a test, lie on a job application or refuse to help a person in need. But if situations are 'favourable', they don't take much time to change their minds, found researchers at the University of Toronto. The researchers, who carried out two experiments to test participants' willingness to behave immorally, found that people would like to behave badly, if it doesn't involve too much work on their part.
People are more likely to cheat and make immoral decisions when their transgressions don't involve an explicit action, said Rimma Teper, lead author of the study, published online now in Social Psychological and Personality Science. If they can lie by omission, cheat without doing much legwork, or bypass a person's request for help without expressly denying them, they are much more likely to do so.
When people are confronted with actively doing the right thing or the wrong thing, there are a lot of emotions involved such as guilt and shame that guide them to make the moral choice. When the transgression is more passive, however, we saw more people doing the wrong thing, and we believe this is because the moral emotions in such situations are probably less intense, Teper added.
