Anonymous

The remaining experiments found the same pattern regardless of other variables, including whether people saw themselves as being of high or low moral character, were negotiating anonymously with strangers or dealing face-to-face with acquaintances, or were acting as an agent for someone who had directed them to lie. They also showed that participants who had lied were less likely than others to want to negotiate again with the same counterpart and were less satisfied when they did. “Living with the costs of dishonesty might be psychologically more challenging than forgoing its benefits,” the researchers conclude.