Miranda v. Arizona (384 U.S. 436, 1966) required that suspects be explicitly warned of the right to avoid self-incrimination and the right to legal representation. This research was designed to examine whether stress, induced via an accusation of wrong-doing, undermined or enhanced suspects' ability to comprehend their Miranda rights. Participants were randomly assigned to either be accused (n ...

In three experiments, we propose and find that individuals cheat more when others can benefit from their cheating and when the number of beneficiaries of wrongdoing increases. Our results indicate that people use moral flexibility to justify their self-interested actions when such actions benefit others in addition to the self. Namely, our findings suggest that when people's dishonesty would be...

In 3 experiments using 2 different paradigms, people were less likely to cheat for personal gain when a subtle change in phrasing framed such behavior as diagnostic of an undesirable identity. Participants were given the opportunity to claim money they were not entitled to at the experimenters' expense; instructions referred to cheating with either language that was designed to highlight the im...

background and purpose: there is much evidence that the prevalence of academic misbehaviors is increasing in universities. this study examined the motivation and attitudes of medical students of shahid beheshti university of medical sciences on cheating and its frequency. methods: the study is a survey of medical students’ of shahid beheshti university of medical sciences attitudes on cheating ...

Are people more moral in the morning than in the afternoon? We propose that the normal, unremarkable experiences associated with everyday living can deplete one's capacity to resist moral temptations. In a series of four experiments, both undergraduate students and a sample of U.S. adults engaged in less unethical behavior (e.g., less lying and cheating) on tasks performed in the morning than o...

This paper investigates the differences between undergraduate and graduate student prevalence rates of cheating and the reported reasons for cheating through a thorough review of the literature. Too often, the results of undergraduate studies are used as equivalent comparisons to studies on graduate student cheating. These inferences are likely inappropriate, warranting an overview of the liter...

People demonstrate an impressive ability to self-deceive, distorting misbehavior to reflect positively on themselves-for example, by cheating on a test and believing that their inflated performance reflects their true ability. But what happens to self-deception when self-deceivers must face reality, such as when taking another test on which they cannot cheat? We find that self-deception diminis...