"Why We Lie", by Dan Ariely

Summary

     This article talks about a study done on a majority of college students. The study was to determine why people cheat and if different variables change the outcome of the dishonesty. Dan believed that all people cheat and that door locks are to keep the honest people honest and the dishonest people would be easily able to break into your house and steal if they really wanted to.
     Dan Ariely and his colleagues created an experiment called the "Matrix Task". They would give people a sheet of paper with numbers on them and ask them, "Which two numbers in the matrix added up to 10?" most people cheated on these but only by a little. The research showed that people only cheated more if given the opportunity. Many other conditions were put on the people doing these experiments. One for example was that people would get paid by how many numbers they solved and at the end they had to shred their paper, so there was no way to prove they lied, giving them an opportunity to lie. Another variable that was put into this experiment was having another person taking the test at the same time. He was an actor pretending to cheat and claiming he had all the correct answers. This cause an increase of cheating to happen between the control groups.

Paragraph #10

    Everyone cheats but only when they know they can't get caught or have something to gain.

Favorite quote

"reminders of morality right at the point where people are making a decision"
        This was the most interesting point in the article to me because no one lied when told to recall the 10 commandments or the school honor code. Reminding people of their morals had the biggest effect on cheating.

Also posted on Josh's and Shelbee

work cited

Ariely, Dan. "Why We Lie." The Bedford Reader. 12th ed. Ed. John E. Sullivan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 440-446. Print.