Higher Self-Control, Less Deception: The Effect of Self-Control on Deception Behaviors

Abstract

The self-control ability and self-control resources have a different influence on deception, but the cognition mechanism of this different influence has not been described yet. In this study, the event-related potentials (ERPs) technique was utilized to conduct two experiments exploring the effects of self-control ability and self-control resources on deception from two approaches. In Experiment 1, participants with different levels of self-control ability performed a visual perception task to measure deception and deception tendencies. The results revealed that individuals with low self-control ability exhibited more deceptive behaviors than did individuals with high self-control ability. Furthermore, individuals with high self-control ability evoked larger N2 and smaller P3 amplitudes than did individuals with low self-control ability. Experiment 2 involved selecting individuals with medium self-control ability. The Stroop task and a visual perception task were employed to investigate the influence of self-control resources on deception. The results showed that the depletion of self-control resources facilitated smaller N2 and larger P3 amplitudes than did non-depletion of self-control resources. In conclusion, these results suggest that individuals with high self-control ability are less likely to deceive others in order to obtain more benefits. When individuals have sufficient self-control resources, they resist temptation and reduce deception behaviors. Deception and deception tendencies may be more likely in people with low of self-control and whose self-control resources are depleted. In people with moderate self-control, deception was still regulated by self-depletion.

Being an ethical or unethical consumer in response to social exclusion: The role of control, belongingness and self‐esteem

“…Some studies (e.g., Çelik et al., 2013; Wesselmann et al., 2010) revealed that negative behavioural responses could focus on retrieving the diminished control, just as Williams (2009) suggested. Thus, unethical behaviours can be one of those responses as depleted self‐control leads to deceptive behaviours (Belinda et al., 2020; Fan et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2017) and moral disengagement (Alexandra, 2019). In addition, Silver and Silver (2021) demonstrated that people with lower levels of self‐control exhibited lower levels of morality.…”

The effects of ritual and self‐control resources depletion on deceptive behavior: Evidence from behavioral and ERPs studies

“…The effort level of the depleted group (M ± SD = 3.41 ± 1.16) was not significantly higher than that of the nondepleted group (M ± SD = 3.04 ± 0.74, t[100] = 1.87, p = .064, Cohen's d = 0.37, see Table 3). According to existing researches (Fan et al, 2020(Fan et al, , 2016, the results suggested that selfcontrol resources depletion was successfully manipulated. 4).…”

How Do Instant Messages Reduce Psychological Withdrawal Behaviors?—Mediation of Engagement and Moderation of Self-Control

“…Previous studies have shown that, compared with employees with weak self-control, employees with strong self-control perform better [ 47 ], are more trustworthy, and act more responsible [ 48 ]. Empirical evidence shows that people with high levels of self-control perform better in all fields [ 48 ].…”

“…Previous studies have shown that, compared with employees with weak self-control, employees with strong self-control perform better [ 47 ], are more trustworthy, and act more responsible [ 48 ]. Empirical evidence shows that people with high levels of self-control perform better in all fields [ 48 ]. Those who have a higher level of self-control have the appropriate ability to maintain attention, control impulse, switch behavior, and allocate transformational resources to goal pursuit activities [ 30 , 49 ].…”