Researchers have discovered that people are more willing to lie for personal gain when they use a laptop than a smartphone, reveals a recent study reported in The Conversation.
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Published in the International Journal of Conflict Management, researchers conducted a series of studies. The first one involved a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ exercise where one participant was told that they’ll receive $12, some of which they must split with a partner.
They could tell whatever amount they choose to — honestly reveal the entire amount and split or tell a smaller sum and keep the bigger kitty for themselves. However, the partner must agree to the offered sum for either of them to get any money.
Half of the individuals used a laptop to communicate with their partner, while the rest used their smartphones. Researchers saw that those on laptops were more likely to lie by around 82 percent, whereas only 62 percent of phone users chose to lie on average and their claim was also $20 less.
For another test, they devised a negotiation experiment where two people were told to barter over the price of an imaginary semiconductor factory which was owned by one of them. Researchers split 222 students into buyers and sellers. Buyers were confidentially informed that the market value of the facility was around $21 million.
Later, buyers were asked by sellers what they thought was the fair market value of the property and made an initial offer. Just like the previous experiment, half chose to use laptops while the other half chose smartphones.
And again, laptop users were more deceptive. They would tell sellers that the fair value was $16.7 million compared to the $18.1 million for phone participants. In both instances, researchers found that the actual offers were only slightly higher compared to what the market value was.
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A third study was conducted to dive deeper into the associations with each device, showing a rather consistent pattern. Phones triggered associations of friends and family, laptops triggered associations of work, accomplishment, success etc.
Researchers explained, “In past work, we found that people lie more frequently, cooperate less and evaluate others more negatively when they conduct tasks virtually as opposed to in person, with physical tools like pens and paper. While studies like ours can’t perfectly predict how behavior will play out in real life, these experiments do offer more evidence of the subtle ways technology can alter human behavior.”
They added, “We don’t know whether our findings would hold for other tasks and within the context of existing relationships. Even within our experiments, other factors may be affecting people’s choice to lie, such as different screen sizes or locations. Our research shows the continued need to assess how technological tools are used in real settings, including the unconscious changes these devices might have on daily decisions and ethical standards.
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