Friday, January 8, 2016

Looking at "Why We Lie" by Dan Ariely


To summarize the article “Why we lie.” By Dan Ariely from the Bedford reader, it is in human nature to be dishonest in one capacity or another. The rate at which people are dishonest is often affected by external factors. If a person observes someone else being dishonest they are more likely to be dishonest (Bedford 443) Or if one person thought another person, or a group of people could benefit from their dishonesty they’d be more prone to being false in reporting. (Bedford 445)

In paragraph ten of Ariely’s work he explains that we know that most people cheat, which then begs the question: What affects peoples’ willingness to lie? Throughout the article the study endeavors to see if the frequency of wrongfully reported information is related directly to the perceived cost or benefit of the falsehood.

During the study they performed a “Matrix Test” where participants were asked to self-report the number of correctly solved equations in a pre-allocated amount of time. When a student thought that they could inaccurately report, they often did. They wrongfully reported in larger numbers when the payout was a lower financial compensation than when it was higher; But, in higher percentages when it was an indirect payout. If the participant was paid with tokens that were then traded for cash, they reported more success than they had. When the person providing the test/reward was blind, the participants also reported more success than was truthful.

Interestingly how the honesty system was structured played a role in how information was reported. When the study incorporated theology by asking pupils to recall the ten commandments or to swear on the bible, all participants – even self-reported atheists were 100% honest (Bedford 444) However on a form that is seemingly innocuous like an insurance form, simply moving the signature line to the top of the form from the bottom resulted in more honesty. (Bedford 444)

My favorite part of the article was something that I took as a call to action. The author states “…although it is obviously important to pay attention to flagrant misbehaviors, it is probably even more important o discourage the small and more ubiquitous forms of dishonesty…” (Bedford 446) I found this concept striking because I believe it to be not only relevant to honesty but pretty universally true of all aspects of life - it is often made up of the small things.

 

Works cited:

                Kennedy, X. J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Ellen Kuhl Repetto. The Bedford Reader. 12th ed. New York: Bedfords/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.


I commented on Garret's Blog and also on Michael H's blog

11 comments:

  1. Wow! What are you a professional writer? Marvelous! simply marvelous! I love how you listed the works cited. I did it in mine too, check it out! But I think you really nailed it. You included everything.

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    1. Gosh, thank you Michael! I'm humbled by your comments, and appreciate the support. Yours was also remarkable, I look forward to working with each other more in this course.

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  2. This looks great! I really enjoyed reading what you took from this article. I must add that you are a great writer. Look forward to reading more of your work in the future.

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    1. Thank you Shelbee, I appreciate your feedback and thoughtful words of praise. I look forward to reading more of yours as well.

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  3. Wow, your blog looks great! I really enjoyed reading it. You are a great writer. Great job!

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    1. Thank you SueSue, I look forward to reading your work as well!

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  5. Oh my! This is a great read! You did amazing! I think I will be able to learn a thing or two from you! Great job!

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    1. Thank you Validia, I appreciate your feedback, I can't wait to see all of the ways we all grow in this class!

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  6. I guess I get to be the devil's advocate among all the "great read" posts. The summary was nice and concise, as was the paraphrase. However, there were several extra paragraphs and I wasn't sure to see where they were needed or where they tied in. Be careful to remain entirely relevant the entire duration of your writing and to not stray off course from explaining what the main idea(s) is.

    You need to reviw your MLA format. The author of this article was not "Bedford." That is the anthology from where the article comes from. Also, when you're publishing online, be sure to use proper grammar/conventions, etc. The Bible is a proper noun and needs proper capitalization, as an example.

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    1. Thank you so much for your feedback, I will take a look at all of those items for future reference!

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