The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone – Especially Ourselves

Every enticing item you pass in the window and don’t buy is a crushed impulse, slowly whittling away at your reserve of willpower—making it much more likely that later in the day you will fall for temptation.

One percent of people will always be honest and never steal,” the locksmith said. “Another one percent will always be dishonest and always try to pick your lock and steal your television. And the rest will be honest as long as the conditions are right—but if they are tempted enough, they’ll be dishonest too. Locks won’t protect you from the thieves, who can get in your house if they really want to. They will only protect you from the mostly honest people who might be tempted to try your door if it had no lock.”

Giving people favors is a time-honored way of gaining loyalty.

Although the Broken Windows Theory has been difficult to prove or refute, its logic is compelling. It suggests that we should not excuse, overlook, or forgive small crimes, because doing so can make

Theory, they suggested a simple strategy for preventing vandalism: fix problems when they are small. If you repair each broken window (or other misbehaviors) immediately, other potential offenders are going to be much less likely to misbehave.

that we can restructure our environment,

follies (dishonesty included

internal and environmental influences on our behavior.

behavioral economics approach

how dishonesty works, how it depends on the structure of our daily environment, and under what conditions we are likely to be more and less dishonest.