What prevents people from becoming bribe-takers, scientists have established

Bribery is one of the most common forms of corruption, so scientists are trying to find a connection between such behavior and personality traits of people.

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A new study, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, shows that people who are prone to feelings of guilt are less likely to take bribes, especially when such an act can cause obvious harm to other people.

Scientists from East China Normal University came to these conclusions by conducting two online experiments with the participation of 2,82 people, connecting economic games with the measurement of personality:

• the first study showed that the propensity to feel guilty is negatively correlated with taking bribes;
• the second study found a link between people’s concern for others and their willingness to accept a bribe.

The results of the study showed that this relationship between personality traits and behavior is context-dependent—guilty-prone people are more sensitive to increased harm, and their desire to take bribes is more inhibited when the harm associated with bribery becomes more pronounced.

This association between trait and behavior is strengthened when the impairment involves more interpersonal harm (eg, stealing, murder), but weakened when it involves less interpersonal harm, the researchers note.

The researchers also noticed that for individuals with a high level of guilt, the impact of the number of victims on behavior regarding bribes changes dramatically if someone is hurt.

This interesting pattern indicates that the relationship between perceived harm and the behavior of bribe-takers may be non-linear, especially for individuals with high levels of guilt, who seem to be more concerned about the presence of the victim, but become less sensitive to cumulative negative consequences, the scientists note.

According to the researchers, one possible explanation for this pattern may be that individuals with a high degree of guilt may be inclined to use the deontological principle in their behavior.

In their opinion, if the behavior of a bribe-taker harms the interests of another person, it is inherently wrong, regardless of its consequences, the scientists note.

At the same time, the scientists note that this study revealed a statistical rather than a causal relationship between the phenomena, so they cannot draw a definitive conclusion that an increase in the propensity to feel guilty plays a leading role in reducing the likelihood of corrupt behavior.

Perhaps other moral traits that have yet to be explored have a key influence on this, such as responsibility, obedience, or conformity.

Source: Social Psychological and Personality Science

Source: Racurs

David

I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.