Study Reveals Why We are Likelier to Tell the Truth at Home Than in Office

An experiment has suggested that we are happier to tell a lie while in the office than are in the house. As part of the Oxford University research, 658 people were randomly contacted in their own homes and asked to flip a coin.

Each was told that if the coin landed tails-up, they would receive 12 pounds or a gift voucher - while if the coin landed heads-up, they would receive nothing.

Despite the financial incentive and the fact that the householders could not be observed the results indicated a high level of honesty, with more than half of the participants reporting that the coin landed heads-up.

In contrast, similar studies conducted in laboratory situations found 75 percent of participants reported tails-up.

The researchers of the study believe the study shows that while we are unwilling to lie at home, we are more likely to bend the truth when at work or in social settings.

"The fact that the financial incentive to lie was outweighed by the perceived cost of lying shows just how honest most people are when in their own homes," the Daily Mail quoted Dr Johannes Abeler as saying.

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"One theory is that being honest is at the core of how we want to perceive ourselves and is very important to our sense of self identity.

"Why it is so important? It may be to do with the social norms we have been given about what is right and wrong from the moment we could walk and talk," Abeler said.

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All those taking part in the experiments answered questions about their own gender, age, views on honesty and their religious background, suggesting that personal attributes play no part on overall levels of honesty.

Source-ANI