How long would a platter of chocolate chip muffins last in your office fridge? Well, according to research by Dan Ariely, not long.
Ariely’s research inspired my May 26 column. After he published his book, Predictably Irrational, much of the discussion surrounded some of the more sensational white collar crimes like the Enron fiasco or Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The argument is that theft seems less wrong when people are one layer removed from the actual cash, as his research clearly showed.
It’s all a question of how you see things. Somehow, we lose the connection with an immoral act when it is somewhat hidden by circumstances. For example, how many of us embellish insurance claims or steal office supplies. Somehow, stealing one dollar from a million people seems like less of a crime than stealing one million dollars from one person. I would estimate that at least 20% of my clients ask me if I would change the name or the dates on their receipts so that they can get extra coverage (I don’t).
In the column, I take it a step further and imply that war crimes are examples of the same process. Although Ariely’s research looks specifically at our view of money and what we do and do not allow ourselves to indulge in, I think all circumstances which place people in a position where they feel less directly responsible for an immoral act are more likely to elicit unwanted behaviours. Our base instincts seem to come out as we add layers of anonymity. Just watch some of the video form the Los Angeles Laker NBA Championship celebration/riot for a recent example of this. In the right circumstances, otherwise normal and caring people can act like complete monsters.
The Loonie and the can of Coke
(Source: Un dollar et une canette de Coke. Journal Métro; May 26, 2009)
Would you steal a dollar from someone? How about something worth a dollar?
An interesting little experiment in behavioural economics caught my attention recently. It teaches us a great deal about morality and how far over a line we are willing to step. The experiment was conducted by MIT professor Dan Ariely and his students.
The study was simple. Ariely and his students went around and left a number of six-packs of Coke in randomly selected dormitory refrigerators all over their campus. When they checked back a few days later, all of the Cokes were gone. They then placed plates with six one-dollar bills in the same refrigerators. When they checked back, not a single bill was missing.
This study reveals an interesting aspect of human nature, especially when it comes to how we treat others and how we judge our own morality. It seems that when we are one step removed from direct theft of money, we are far more likely to steal. For most of us, stealing a dollar is wrong. Yet somehow stealing a can of Coke worth a dollar doesn’t seem quite so bad.
The theft of a can of Coke may seem trivial but the implications of the aspect of human nature revealed by this experiment can be quite profound.
One step removed
It’s all about perspective, isn’t it? The further we are removed from any direct immoral act, the more likely we are to indulge in it. It is for this reason that many, if not most, people would happily buy hot merchandise. A deal is a deal, isn’t it? After all, we didn’t steal it. Of course, if we realized that we were the thief’s employer we might see things differently.
This is also why otherwise well-respected and law-abiding business executives can commit white-collar crimes. Somehow stealing indirectly through insider trading or crooked investment schemes seems less criminal than a blatant hold-up of a bank, even if they both net the same amount of money.
Similar processes occur in war. In any armed conflict, certain soldiers will commit unspeakable acts of cruelty? Most of them will defend their actions by saying that they were simply following orders. The fact that they were one step removed from the moral choices made by their leaders certainly has a lot to do with it.
It’s something worth thinking about the next time you open a fridge door.
Tagged as Dan Ariely, Ponzi schemes, theft.
Posted in Human nature.
Posted on 16 Jun 2009
