Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Perceived warmth and competence of others shape voluntary deceptive behaviour in a morally relevant setting

Azevedo, Ruben T., Panasiti, Maria Serena, Maglio, Rosita, Aglioti, Salvatore Maria (2018) Perceived warmth and competence of others shape voluntary deceptive behaviour in a morally relevant setting. British Journal of Psychology, 109 (1). pp. 25-44. ISSN 0007-1269. (doi:10.1111/bjop.12245) (KAR id:73818)

PDF Author's Accepted Manuscript
Language: English
Download this file
(PDF/1MB)
[thumbnail of Azevedo_et_al_SCM_Deception - authors copy.pdf]
Request a format suitable for use with assistive technology e.g. a screenreader
PDF Publisher pdf
Language: English

Restricted to Repository staff only
Contact us about this Publication
[thumbnail of Perceived warmth and competence of others shape voluntary deceptive behaviour in a morally relevant setting (Azevedo, 2017).pdf]
Official URL:
https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12245

Abstract

The temptation to deceive others compares to a moral dilemma: it involves a conflict between the temptation to obtain some benefit and the desire to conform to personal and social moral norms or avoid aversive social consequences. Thus, people might feel different levels of emotional and moral conflict depending on the target of the deception. Here we explored, in a morally relevant setting, how social judgements based on two fundamental dimensions of human social cognition – ‘warmth’ and ‘competence’ – impact on the decision to deceive others. Results revealed independent effects for warmth and competence. Specifically, while people are less inclined to deceive for self‐gain those individuals they perceive as warm, they also tend to lie more to highly competent others. Furthermore, the perceived warmth and competence modulated the general tendency to reduce deceptive behaviour when there was a risk of disclosure compared to when the lying was anonymous, highlighting the importance of these judgements in social evaluation processes. Together, our results demonstrate that the emotional costs and personal moral standards that inhibit engagement in deceptive behaviour are not stable but rather malleable according to the target and the consequences of the deception.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/bjop.12245
Uncontrolled keywords: lie, deception, guilt, stereotype content model, bias, moral
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Ruben Andre Teixeira Azevedo
Date Deposited: 08 May 2019 18:03 UTC
Last Modified: 05 Nov 2024 12:36 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/73818 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.