The Flexible Nature of Honesty and Rationalisation
Humans are engaged in a constant internal conflict: the desire to view themselves as honest while simultaneously benefiting from dishonest acts. Thanks to our "flexible cognitive psychology" and the ability to rationalise our actions, we can do both. The speaker highlights that we tend to cheat "just a little bit", allowing us to gain from dishonesty while still maintaining a self-perception as good, honest people. This rationalisation is key; the more we can rationalise an action, the more dishonest we can be without feeling bad. The research, involving 30,000 people, revealed that while there are very few "big cheaters," there is a vast number of "little cheaters" whose collective minor transgressions (e.g., 18,000 individuals stealing $36,000 in total) have a far greater economic impact than the few major ones (e.g., 12 individuals stealing $150). This pattern is argued to reflect real-world society, where the majority of dishonesty stems from generally good people cheating slightly.