Telling Lies

Is it easier to tell lies when you're online?  According to Bandura's social cognitive theory of moral disengagement, people often release themselves from certain forms of moral obligation by distancing themselves psychologically.  A paper published in a recent issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology presented the results of three experimental studies that build on moral disengagement theory by exploring lying in online environments. Using samples of graduate-level business students in different experimental scenarios, the results indicated that, when e-mail is compared with pen and paper communication media (both of which are equal in terms of media richness, as both are text only), people are more willing to lie when communicating via e-mail than via pen and paper and feel more justified in doing so. The findings were consistent whether the task assured participants that their lie either would or would not be discovered by their counterparts. While the researchers acknowledge potential limitations involving experimental design, they discuss the implications of these results, both in terms of theory and practice

For more information.