Defect

Across four experiments involving thousands of participants, the researchers explored which of two emotions held greater sway in a variety of negotiations: delight at achieving a better outcome or guilt at having used dishonest means to do so. In the first experiment, 982 participants were paired up as buyers and sellers negotiating the price of a hypothetical used computer with a defect. Half the buyers were told to send their seller a message saying that when they had tested the computer, everything seemed to be fine. The other half indicated that the computer had crashed and cited the probable need for a new graphics card. All buyers were encouraged to ask about the machine’s condition. All sellers were instructed to say whatever they wanted to in order to secure the best deal, and they were offered either small or large incentives to push for a high price.