Lying under time pressure and how to promote honesty

Undoubtedly, lying is a significant part of our everyday lives – to a larger extent than we might grasp. When it comes to lying under time pressure, scientific literature suggests that people fail to contemplate and exert self-control. However, recent literature cannot distinguish whether this lack of deliberation yields increased truth-telling or lying. To understand those two opposing lines of research, I conducted an experiment in which people had the opportunity to cheat in order to enhance self-benefit, both under time pressure and with ample time. Moreover, as tools to promote honesty under time pressure are yet unexplored, I bridged the concept of linguistic cues to decision-making under limited time. Scholars found that exposing people to the self-relevant noun ‘cheater’ decreases lying behavior. Thus, I further implemented this insight in my experiment. The results show that there is no difference in lying or truth-telling behavior under time pressure compared to when individuals have ample time. Furthermore, this experiment fails to find a significantly lower level of lying behavior when people are exposed to the word ‘cheater', in both the time pressure and no time pressure treatment. Nevertheless, this research may serve as a stepping stone for future research in the field of dishonesty prevention under time pressure, as understanding lying behavior and how to prevent it remain crucial.