Are big and small lies complementary or supplementary? The participants who lie more in the big lie, also do so in the small lie and vice versa

Big and Small Lies. Diogo Geraldes, Franziska Heinicke, Duk Gyoo Kim. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, January 18 2021, 101666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2021.101666

Highlights

• We study how big and small lies are interconnected.

• Lies are complementary, which rejects the moral capacity of lying.

• A streak of good lucks on a high-stakes prize decreases small-stakes lying.

Abstract: Lying involves many decisions yielding big or small benefits. Are big and small lies complementary or supplementary? In a laboratory experiment where the participants could simultaneously tell a big and a small lie, our study finds that lies are complementary. The participants who lie more in the big lie, also do so in the small lie and vice versa. Our study also finds that although replacing one dimension of the lying opportunities with a randomly determined prize does not affect the overall lying behavior, repeatedly being lucky on a high-stakes prize leads to less lying on the report of a low-stakes outcome.