Willful Blindness and Dishonesty - Open Access Library Journal

OALibJ > Vol.6 No.12, December 2019

Open Access Library Journal

Volume 6, Issue 12 (December 2019)

ISSN Print: 2333-9705 ISSN Online: 2333-9721

Google-based Impact Factor: 0.73 Citations

Willful Blindness and Dishonesty ()

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DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1105953 323 Downloads 932 Views Citations

Author(s)

Sergio Da Silva^1*, Raul Matsushita², Thayana Gonçalves¹

Affiliation(s)

¹Department of Economics, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil.
²Department of Statistics, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil.

ABSTRACT

Willful blindness refers to situations where people choose not to look or not to question. We investigate the relationship between willful blindness and honesty using a sample of random participants to respond to two questionnaires. We contrast the responses reported with the intrinsic dis-honesty of the group (the extent to which people lie when they are assured they cannot be caught). To measure intrinsic honesty, we conduct a die-in-a-cup task. Then, we build indices of perceived honesty and willful blindness that take into account intrinsic honesty. After comparing the in-dices, we find an inverse correlation between willful blindness and honesty. Thus, our sample suggests we cannot dismiss that those who exhibit more willful blindness are also more dishonest.

KEYWORDS

Willful Blindness, Honesty, Die-in-a-Cup Task, Intrinsic Honesty, Perceived Honesty

Share and Cite:

Silva, S. , Matsushita, R. and Gonçalves, T. (2019) Willful Blindness and Dishonesty. Open Access Library Journal, 6, 1-6. doi: 10.4236/oalib.1105953.

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