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-RosenbergSebastian 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

Department of Business Administration

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

1 Scopus citations

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
Journal	Nature Human Behaviour
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0
State	Accepted/In press - 1 Jan 2024

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Behavioral Neuroscience

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0

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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. (Accepted/In press). Effectiveness of ex ante honesty oaths in reducing dishonesty depends on content. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0

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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{\textquoteright} 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.",

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 Koessler, {Ann Kathrin} 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",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2024.",

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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, AK, 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. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02009-0

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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 - 2024/1/1

Y1 - 2024/1/1

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.

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SN - 2397-3374

JO - Nature Human Behaviour

JF - Nature Human Behaviour

ER -

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

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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