Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, suggest that the desire to be honest goes beyond just a fear of social retaliation.The study, conducted by a research team from the University of Plymouth in England, involved 640 adolescents (ages 10 to 14) in India and was designed in such a way that made it impossible to tell who had and had not kept their promises.“Promises are what we call ‘speech acts’ and create commitments by merely saying specific words,” said the study’s first author, Dr.
Patricia Kanngiesser, associate professor in psychology at Plymouth. “So one would think that they have very little binding power.
In contrast, research has shown over and over again that many people do keep their word, even at a personal cost.”Cheating and.
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