(Press-News.org) While the benefits of cooperation in human society are clear, new research from The University of Nottingham suggests it also has a dark side - one that encourages corrupt behaviour.
"Collaborative settings, not just greed, can provide fertile ground for corruption, as typified by recent scandals in the football and banking worlds. But while much is known about individual immoral behaviour, little is known about the collaborative roots of corruption," explains lead author Dr Ori Weisel from the School of Economics at the University.
The study, The Collaborative Roots of Corruption, published in PNAS journal, focused on cases where working together meant violating moral rules, by lying, at a possible cost to the larger group, or the organisation to which they belong.
Researchers created a die-rolling game to examine collaborative corruption. Volunteers could adhere to one of two competing moral norms: collaborate or be honest. In the main experiment, the outcomes of the two players are perfectly aligned.
Player A privately rolled a six-sided die first, then reported the result by typing the number onto a computer. The outcome was relayed to player B, who then privately rolled and reported the results as well.
Both players are paid the value of the report if, and only if, they are identical e.g. if both report six, each earns £6. Because rolls were truly private, players could inflate their profit by misreporting the actual outcomes.
Indeed, the proportion of reported doubles was 489 per cent higher than the expected proportion assuming honesty, 48 per cent higher than when individuals rolled alone and 96 per cent higher than when lies only benefited the other player.
"Humans are an exceptionally cooperative species, which is at least partly driven by deeply ingrained moral sentiments that help to build trust and achieve mutual beneficial outcomes. However there can be tension between two fundamental moral obligations - to tell the truth or to join forces in collaboration," said Dr Weisel, a research fellow who specialises in group cooperation and decision-making.
"Some of the findings support the view that collaboration might have been a liberating effect, freeing people to behave unethically.
"People also bend the truth more when it improves not only their own but also others' outcomes, when their lies benefit a cause or another person they care about and group-serving dishonesty is modulated by oxytocin - a socially-bonding hormone."
The study found the highest levels of corrupt collaboration occurred when parties shared profits equally, and were reduced when either player's incentive to lie was decreased or removed.
Dr Weisel said: "When partners' profits are not aligned, or when individuals complete a comparable task alone, corruption levels drop."
The researchers suggest that organisations may be paying a (corruption) premium for having their employees team-up and work together.
Dr Weisel adds: "From the point of view of an organisation seeking to reduce corrupt behaviour, assuring a decent base salary that does not depend on performance can reduce the likelihood that its employees engage in brazen lying."
INFORMATION:
'The Collaborative Roots of Corruption' is co-authored by Dr Ori Weisel, from The University of Nottingham, and Shaul Shalvi, from the University of Amsterdam and published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal. A downloadable copy of the paper is available:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/08/05/1423035112
ORANGE, Calif. - Researchers in Chapman University's Food Science Program have just published two separate studies on meat mislabeling in consumer commercial products. One study focused on identification of species found in ground meat products, and the other focused on game meat species labeling. Both studies examined products sold in the U.S. commercial market; and both study outcomes identified species mislabeling among the product samples.
In the study on identification of species found in ground meat products, 48 samples were analyzed and 10 were found to be mislabeled. ...
Los Angeles, CA (August 21, 2015) With the globalization of biomedical research and growing concerns about possible pandemics of diseases such as HIV, SARS, and Ebola, international data-sharing practices are of growing interest to the biomedical science community. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of sharing data in low and middle-income settings? What challenges stand in the way for researchers in countries such as India, Kenya, and Vietnam? A new special issue of SAGE's Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics (JERHRE) presents guidelines, protocols, ...
Birds 'shout' to be heard over the noise produced by man-made activity, new research has shown.
The innovative study, led by an expert from the University of Exeter, looked at how bluebirds altered their songs in response to increases in nearby background noise caused, in many cases, by human activities such as traffic.
It found that the birds altered their songs immediately after noise levels intensified, making 'real-time' adjustments in order to produce songs that are both louder and lower-pitched. The results suggest that birds are able to perceive increases in ...
Chestnut Hill, MA (Aug. 21, 2015) - A fresh look at some old rocks has solved a crucial mystery of the last Ice Age, yielding an important new finding that connects to the global retreat of glaciers caused by climate change today, according to a new study by a team of climate scientists.
For decades, researchers examining the glacial meltdown that ended 11,000 years ago took into account a number of contributing factors, particularly regional influences such as solar radiation, ice sheets and ocean currents.
But a reexamination of more than 1,000 previously studied ...
CHICAGO -- Each year, 311 -- New York City's main hub for government information and non-emergency services -- receives millions of requests and complaints, including New Yorkers' gripes about their neighbors.
In a new study from New York University (NYU) using 311 complaint data, researchers tracked when and where New Yorkers complain about their neighbors making noise, blocking driveways, or drinking in public. They found that these complaints -- a defining aspect of urban life -- are more likely to occur in areas sandwiched between two homogenous communities, where ...
A former adviser to the US Secretary of State says that genetic modification (GM) is the most critical technology in agriculture for meeting the challenges of feeding a growing global population, writing in the open access journal Agriculture & Food Security.
Nina Fedoroff, molecular biologist and former Science and Technology Adviser to Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, warns of the detrimental influence of politics and misinformation on the safety of GM crops. Instead, Fedoroff says that: "GM crops are arguably the safest new crops ever introduced into the human ...
The fact that the greatest diversity of large mammals is found in Africa reflects past human activities - and not climatic or other environmental constraints. This is determined in a new study, which presents what the world map of mammals would look like if modern man (Homo sapiens) had never existed.
In a world without humans, most of northern Europe would probably now be home to not only wolves, Eurasian elk (moose) and bears, but also animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses.
This is demonstrated in a new study conducted by researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark. ...
In a new study published today in the Journal of Health Psychology, researchers from the University of Surrey have found dieters who eat 'on the go' may increase their food intake later in the day which could lead to weight gain and obesity. The findings from the study also showed that eating while walking around triggered more overeating compared to eating during other forms of distraction such as watching TV or having a conversation with a friend.
The team examined 60 females who were either dieters or non-dieters and gave them all a cereal bar to eat under three different ...
A "substantial" proportion of NHS hospital staff--around one in eight, in some places--treat the victims of people trafficking, with maternity services most likely to do so, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open.
Although understanding of the sorts of health problems trafficked patients are likely to have, is generally high, few NHS staff feel adequately prepared to respond appropriately, the findings suggest.
International law requires that the UK provides victims of human trafficking with whatever medical treatment they require, which includes psychological ...
Nine potentially modifiable risk factors may contribute to up to two thirds of Alzheimer's disease cases worldwide, suggests an analysis of the available evidence, published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
The analysis indicates the complexity of Alzheimer's disease development and just how varied the risk factors for it are.
But the researchers suggest that preventive strategies, targeting diet, drugs, body chemistry, mental health, pre-existing disease, and lifestyle may help to stave off dementia. This could be particularly important, ...
