(Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies
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(Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies
From ticket fixing within police departments to cheating on filling tax returns and in romance to financial schemes that undermine the economy, it is clear that dishonesty seems to be a ubiquitous part of every individual. Ariely’s film (2:27) asserts that, beyond every individual’s personal experiences, a cursory glimpse into various public scandals ranging from Bernie Madoff to Enron also indicate the prevalence of lies in every culture.
Behavioral psychologist and economist Dan Ariely’s film “(Dis) Honesty – The Truth About Lies” indicates that a good number of people believe that they lie and at the same time think of themselves in general as honest and wonderful people (Ariely film 1:32-38). Many times these individuals lie in different accounts due to the fact that they have already gotten to this far by telling little lies. Therefore, in order to go along with what was said earlier, individuals continue lying more, thereby making their little lies become outright dishonesty. With this in mind, Ariely film (10:10), suggests through the application of the matrix experiment, findings indicate that it is the many little lies by little cheaters that bring more damage to the society than the few big lies by big cheaters that make headlines.
The ability of individuals to tell lies and at the same time think of themselves as generally honest and wonderful people all starts with rationalization (Ariely film 1:41). In this case, individual looks at the mirror and think of themselves as being good, honest, and wonderful. On the other hand, these individuals also want to enjoy various short term benefits, gains, and profits associated with being dishonest. In so doing, this scenarios result to the creation of the fudge factor, a line that best describes the two events. Ariely film (3:19), defines the fudge factor as the ability of an individual to misbehave and think of themselves as good people enabling them to rationalize. In numerous occasion, the greater the fudge factor, the more individuals engage in cheating, and be okay with themselves. In other words, the fudge factor determines how much dishonesty is acceptable for an individual. According to Ariely film (3:27-37), how much one exaggerate their online dating profile, drive above the normal speed limit, or engage in tax fraud are some of the most common examples of the fudge factors among many individuals. For most of us, our friends, and families, the fudge factor normally comes into play when we are lying for others. In these cases, individuals believe that by lying for others which is dishonesty, they are also doing what is best for others.
Everything that changes the fudge factor changes peoples abilities to be dishonest (Ariely film 3:41 -45), With this in mind, it is clear that there are various elements such as lying for others, everybody is doing it, lack of supervision, and the felling that they are not hurting anybody, that influence the fudge factor. For instance, when individuals tell themselves that everybody is doing it, it is easier for them to rationalize to themselves that this is actually an okay thing to do, making them cheat to a higher degree (Ariely film 3:57 -59). In regard to lack of supervision, individuals may find it easier to misbehave and consider themselves good people in the defense that they were left unsupervised hence not their fault to misbehave. In other cases, the occurrence of the fudge factor may be a result of the notion “I am not hurting anyone”. In this case individuals normally engage in dishonest activities with a defense that their actions are not a threat to any individual and as a result considering themselves good people. Based on lying for others factor, many individuals misbehave by lying to protect other individuals such as friends and family members in times of trouble. In so doing, these individuals comfort themselves that they are doing the right thing and are therefore good people regardless of the dishonesty. The day to day normal activities of many individuals result to a lot of fatigue. With this, numerous individuals normally misbehave for instance, going above the speed limit with a defense that they are coming from work and tired. In this case, these individuals consider themselves good people who are working hard to contribute to the development of the nation regardless of their bad behavior.
Regarding examinations, there are various reasons that indicate why students involve in cheating and plagiarism. For instance, a majority of students engage in cheating to inadequate preparation during examination periods. The lack of preparation and enough time to complete the tests usually causes problems among students forcing them to adopt other measures such as cheating (Ariely film 33:18). Despite the fact that many students consider this a fudge factor, it is important to note that cheating is socially questionable and against the social trust concept and thus not justifiable.
Guess work among students is another major factor that contributes to cheating and plagiarism among many students especially in cases involving rewards (Ariely film 39:13). In most scenarios, students who do not want to struggle figuring out problems or preparing for examination usually adopt other strategies such as guessing and inventing their own solutions. Apart from this, gaining benefit is another major reason a majority of students engage in cheating and plagiarism during examination (Ariely film 9:17). In a case where individuals are provided with rewards, students will adopt strategies such as cheating in order to gain the rewards such as money being given. However, this reason also does not justify the cheating as it goes against the social trust.
According to (Ariely film 14:47), students also tend to cheat if they are surrounded by those who are cheating. Influence is a powerful element that causes individuals to engage in activities they do not intend to. By sitting around people who are cheating, most students are usually influenced to also engage in cheating. However, this as well is not a justifiable reason for cheating due to the fact that influence is an urge that individuals can avoid.
Going by the moral code and good behavior should always be the guiding strategy for any difficult dilemma. For instance, in the case of Kelley who is dishonest about her address so that her daughter can attend a better school, personally, I would have addressed the problem differently. Telling the truth and instead seeking for help for my daughter’s quality education would have been the best method to use. By doing this, one is able to maintain their moral code and minimize the chance of lying in another scenario which occurs as a result of a developed habit. Despite Kelley’s social injustice, racial discrimination is another major social injustice that might lead someone to violate the law by engaging in riots and protests in the fight against this type of social injustice. It is the responsibility of government institutions to impose laws that fight against these types of injustices that affect individuals.
In more than one case, big cheaters have made numerous big mistakes whereas small cheaters have made small mistakes and dishonest decisions. However, bearing this in mind, (Ariely film 3:41 -45), indicates that it is the small cheaters are in fact the bigger problem. Out there, there are big cheaters who make big mistakes but they are very rare making their overall economic impact very low (Ariely film 10:22). On the other hand, the number of small cheaters is relatively huge and due to this their relative economic impact of small cheating is relatively high making them a big problem. According to Ariely film (10: 38), small acts of dishonestly conducted by small cheaters result to major cost, for instance the IRS being cheated more that 15 percent of its tax revenue annually.
Social trust is one of the most important elements for every thriving society. It involves a belief in integrity, honesty, and reliability on others. Since a thriving society is dependent on a certain level of its members trust, individuals attempt to nudge likely defectors into complying with their societal norms. However, the dilemma usually occurs when individuals have to make difficult choices between their personal interest and group interest. In this case, the idea is that individuals can add societal pressure to their situation which can encourage cooperation instead of selfishness (Bruce, 2017). By applying moral pressure which is a form of societal pressure, individuals are able to abstain from wrong doings such as stealing due to the belief that it is wrong and against societal rules. By not involving in dishonest activities that involve people who are not from your social circle, the level of dishonesty such as stealing normally drops. With this in mind, it therefore important to note that social trust in an important source of reducing cases of dishonesty in a thriving society. It is as a result that Ariely film (14:58), indicate that it is not about the probability of being caught that reduces cases of being dishonest, it is the question of about what is socially acceptable in our social circle.
In order to strengthen social trust in regard to academic integrity at UC Davis, it is important to add societal pressure which induces cooperation among students over selfishness (Bruce, 2017). One of the ways of strengthening social trust through societal pressures is by instituting institutional pressure which involves rules and laws in UC Davis. This pressure involves norms which are codified, and whose enforcement and enactment is generally delegated. Institutional pressure, persuade individuals to perform according to the institution norms by imposing penalties to those who go against, and rewarding those who do not. In so doing, this strengthens the social trust related to academic integrity at UC Davis.
Peace, love, humility, empathy, truth, faith, and compassion are some of the major characteristics of good, honest, and wonderful people. They represent the good wolf in us which makes us act appropriately. In order to be able to sustain these characteristics, it is important to adopt various strategies that strengthen one’s resistance to temptations of dishonesty. Being reminded of the moral code and good behavior is one of the ways to strengthen one’s resistance to temptations of dishonesty (Ariely film 39:43). In addition, reminding ourselves of our own moral fiber is also of great importance. In so doing, this decreases cases of dishonesty and cheating this fostering out integrity. Ariely film (41:53), suggests that admitting the mistakes done by being honest to yourself, family, and friends is another way of supporting your efforts to live with integrity.
Reference
Bruce, S. (2017). Enabling the Trust That Society Needs to Thrive By
Available at https://fs.blog/2017/01/bruce-schneier-trustThe Film “(Dis) Honesty – The Truth About Lies”
Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rd5IWbZt1U
