Signing at the beginning versus at the end does not decrease dishonesty
Ariella Kristal; Ashley V. Whillans; Max H. Bazerman; Francesca Gino; Lisa L. Shu; Nina Mažar; Dan Ariely · 2020 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
WASTE classifies this as Negative / Null Result Report · AI classification, approximate
The study found no significant effect — useful as a negative control or null benchmark for your own design.
Abstract
Honest reporting is essential for society to function well. However, people frequently lie when asked to provide information, such as misrepresenting their income to save money on taxes. A landmark finding published in PNAS [L. L. Shu, N. Mazar, F. Gino, D. Ariely, M. H. Bazerman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 109, 15197–15200 (2012)] provided evidence for a simple way of encouraging honest reporting: asking people to sign a veracity statement at the beginning instead of at the end of a self-report form. Since this finding was published, various government agencies have adopted this practice.
Abstract by Ariella Kristal; Ashley V. Whillans; Max H. Bazerman; Francesca Gino; Lisa L. Shu; Nina Mažar; Dan Ariely, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020) — licensed CC BY 4.0.
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Metadata source: OpenAlex · DOI 10.1073/pnas.1911695117