Morality And Morality

The ongoing dilemma of demonstration of sound morality versus the guaranteed personal gain of cheating is one that we encounter on a daily basis. A recent study by Gino and Mogilner (2014) contends a potential link between time, money and morality by means of using self reflection cues on participants who have been offered the opportunity to cheat for money. Although Ginos (2014) study does provide grounded evidence for a potential link between self reflection and the diminished occurrence of cheating as supported by a wide range of similar studies, confounding variables for the cause of dishonest behaviour challenge the validity of the claim of a link between money and morality.

As humans, the idea of “morality is central to [our] self image,” (Gino & Mogilner, 2014) and is an important means of judging not only how we see ourselves as a person, but the way in which we judge the quality of others. (Bryan, Adams & Monin, 2013). However, despite its detrimental implications, cheating is undeniably ubiquitous in our everyday lives due to the positive implications for the cheater (Ruedy, Moore, Gino & Schweitzer, 2013). A recent study conducted by Ginos (2014) investigated the correlation between self reflection and the resulting effect on the prevalence and severity of cheating due to self-interest hypothesised to have been caused by exposure to money. This study contends that there is a significant and relevant link between time, money and morality, based on their findings that conclude that priming participants with a means of self reflection, rather than money yields a greater chance of honest participant action. Widely found evidence supports Gino’s findings (2014) that delicate prompts that direct participants...

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...strategic placement of mirrors.

Although Gino’s study (2014) provides evidence that the offer of a means of self reflection before being given an opportunity to cheat by prompting people to reflect on what kind of person they want to be how they want themselves to be perceived by others, therefore encouraging them to act in ways that are deemed socially admirable, “[reducing] their likelihood of behaving dishonestly” (Gino et al. 2014). Although the validity of this claim is well supported, the proposed link between time, money and morality is conclusively not strong enough to be relevant due to the weak link between the proposed hypothesis that money causes cheating. Further studies should investigate the effect of the self reflection prime on cheating that has been hypothetically caused by several variables, including money, in order to solidify the prior claim.