Predictors of Bribe-Taking: The Role of Bribe Size and Personality

Abstract

7Laboratory studies allow for studying predictors of bribe taking in a controlled setting. However, the 8 existing laboratory tasks often lack any connection to norm violation or invite participants to role-9 play. Using a new experimental task for studying the decision to take a bribe, which overcomes the 10 problems mentioned above by embedding the opportunity for bribe taking in an unrelated task that 11 participants perform, we found that refraining from harming a third party by taking a bribe was 12 associated with lower bribes and higher scores on the honesty-humility scale from the HEXACO 13 personality inventory. Trial-level analysis showed that response times were longer for trials with 14 bribes and even longer for trials in which bribes were accepted. These results suggest that taking a 15 bribe may require overcoming the default honest response and support validity of the honesty-16 humility scale in predicting moral behavior. 17