Behavioral ethics researchers indicate that while 83% of people believe they shouldn’t lie, 21% of people will lie anyway if it is in their interest to do so. These studies present new insights for people seeking honest governance, the newest being that what liars believe others do has a big impact on whether or not they lie, and on the size of their lies.

Bicchieri, Xiao, Dimant, and Sonderegger research what influences dishonest behavior and what motivates honest behavior in the 21% of public officials who lie. Their studies from 2006 to 2023, "Do the Right Thing: But Only if Others Do So," and "It’s not a lie if you believe the norm does not apply: Conditional norm-following and belief distortion," consider how people’s beliefs about ‘‘what ought to be’’ affect truth-telling. They look at the disconnect contained in social norms for honesty that conflicts with self-interested motives and personal agendas.

Bicchieri et al. identify two types of individuals: those who see things in black and white—whose beliefs regarding their own behavior motivate them not to lie, or whose beliefs motivate them to always lie in their own interest, and those in the gray area, who, depending on circumstances may lie when it’s in their interest to lie. These are the “conditional truth tellers” who may believe that lying is wrong but will self-deceive to justify a lie if the payoff is great enough and/or the consequences low enough.

The researchers find that the biggest driver of decisions to lie is what the individual believes others would do in the same situation. Simply put, they do as they believe others do, not as they or others........

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