Honesty-Humility (HH) is negatively linked to dishonest behavior; the HH-dishonesty link is unaffected by the utility of incentives (irrespective of incentive size or a gain-vs-loss framing)

On the robustness of the association between Honesty-Humility and dishonest behavior for varying incentives. Sina A. Klein et al. Journal of Research in Personality, Volume 88, October 2020, 104006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2020.104006

Highlights
• Honesty-Humility (HH) is negatively linked to dishonest behavior.
• The HH-dishonesty link is unaffected by the utility of incentives.
• This finding replicates for incentive size and different framing of incentives.

Abstract: Previous research consistently showed a negative link between Honesty-Humility (HH) and dishonest behavior. However, most prior research neglected the influence of situational factors and their potential interaction with HH. In two incentivized experiments (N = 322, N = 552), we thus tested whether the (subjective) utility of incentives moderates the HH-dishonesty link. Replicating prior evidence, HH showed a consistent negative link to dishonesty. However, the utility of incentives did not moderate this association, neither when manipulated through incentive size (BF01 = 5.7) nor when manipulated through gain versus loss framing (BF01 = 20.4). These results demonstrate the robustness of the HH-dishonesty link.

Keywords: HEXACO Honesty-HumilityCoin-toss taskCheatingIncentivesFraming