Unethical Decision Making and Sleep Restriction: Experimental Evidence

David Dickinson and David Masclet

No 21-09, Working Papers from Department of Economics, Appalachian State University

Abstract: Recent examinations into the cognitive underpinnings of ethical decision making has focused on understanding whether honesty is more likely to result from deliberative or unconscious decision processes. We randomly assigned participants to a multi-night sleep manipulation, after which they completed 3 tasks of interest: imperfectly identifiable dishonesty (the Coin Flip task), identifiable dishonesty (the Matrix task), and anti-social allocation choices (the Money Burning game). We document the validity of the sleep protocol via significantly reduced nightly sleep levels (objectively measured using validated instrumentation) and significantly higher sleepiness ratings in the sleep-restricted (SR) group compared to the wellrested (WR) group. We report that money burning decisions are not statistically different between SR and WR participants. However, regarding honesty, we find significant and robust effects of SR on honesty. In total, given the connection between sleepiness and deliberation, these results add to the literature that has identified conditions under which deliberation impacts ethical choice. When dishonesty harms an abstract “other” person (e.g., the researcher’s budget), reduced deliberation more likely increases dishonesty compared to when harm is done to someone at closer social distance (e.g., another subject). Key Words: Ethical choice, dishonesty, antisocial behavior, sleep.

JEL-codes: C91 D63 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-exp, nep-hea and nep-neu
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Unethical decision making and sleep restriction: Experimental evidence (2023)
Working Paper: Unethical decision making and sleep restriction: Experimental evidence (2023)
Working Paper: Unethical Decision Making and Sleep Restriction: Experimental Evidence (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:apl:wpaper:21-09

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