Willful blindness refers to situations where people choose not to look or not to question. We investigate the relationship between willful blindness and honesty using a sample of random participants to respond to two questionnaires. We contrast the responses reported with the intrinsic dis-honesty of the group (the extent to which people lie when they are assured they cannot be caught). To measure intrinsic honesty, we conduct a die-in-a-cup task. Then, we build indices of perceived honesty and willful blindness that take into account intrinsic honesty. After comparing the in-dices, we find an inverse correlation between willful blindness and honesty. Thus, our sample suggests we cannot dismiss that those who exhibit more willful blindness are also more dishonest.
Cite this paper
Silva, S. D. , Matsushita, R. and Goncalves, T. (2019). Willful Blindness and Dishonesty. Open Access Library Journal, 6, e5953. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1105953.
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