Cheating at the Top: Trait Dominance Explains Dishonesty More Consistently Than Social Power.

ABSTRACT: Power has long been associated with dishonesty. Here, we examined the contributions of personal and structural factors associated with power. Across five studies (N = 1,366), we tested the hypothesis that being dominant, more than having power and felt prestige, predicts dishonesty in incentivized tasks, moral disengagement, and breaking of Covid-19 containment rules. Dominance and dishonesty were positively associated (Study 1). Furthermore, dominance contributed to the positive relationship between occupational power and dishonesty in natural settings (Studies 2 and 5). Different types of power had inconsistent effects on dishonesty (Studies 3 and 4). Prestige was unrelated to dishonesty. Dominant individuals were overrepresented at the top, suggesting that the association between

SUBMITTER: Kim KH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9596955 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature