Commitment Requests Do Not Affect Truth-Telling in Laboratory and Online Experiments

Arbeitspapier

Using a standard cheating game, we investigate whether the request to sign a no-cheating declaration affects truth-telling. Our design varies the content of a no-cheating declaration (reference to ethical behavior vs. reference to possible sanctions) and the type of experiment (online vs. offline). Irrespective of the declaration's content, commitment requests do not affect truth-telling, neither in the laboratory nor online. The inefficacy of commitment requests appears robust across different samples and does not depend on psychological measures of reactance.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Discussion Paper ; No. 466

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Design of Experiments: Laboratory, Individual ; Field Experiments
• Subject: cheating ; lying ; truth-telling ; compliance ; commitment ; no-cheating rule ; no-cheating declaration ; commitment request

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Cagala, Tobias ; Glogowsky, Ulrich ; Rincke, Johannes ; Schudy, Simeon
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München und Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Collaborative Research Center Transregio 190 - Rationality and Competition
• (where): München und Berlin
• (when): 2023

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/282157
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET