Research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) found that honesty levels vary between countries. The study’s findings suggest that honesty has less to do with a country’s economic growth than its culture and history.
To reach its conclusions people from different countries were examined, their honesty was put to the test and then the results were studied in relation to each country’s economic development. 1,500 participants took part in the study from 15 countries – Brazil, China, Greece, Japan, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, the United States, Argentina, Denmark, the United Kingdom, India, Portugal, South Africa, and South Korea.
Test 1
The study included various honesty assessments. People were asked to flip coins and state whether the coins had landed on ‘heads’ or ‘tails’ with ‘heads’ giving them rewards of $3-$5. If heads were over 50% then it was taken that the country’s people were being dishonest. Doctor David Hugh-Jones, the study’s author, found dishonesty varied from 3.4% in the UK to 70% in China. The British were found to be the most honest coin-flippers. Greeks were found to be the fourth most honest (or just very lucky) of the 15 countries. The Chinese flippers were the worst.
Test 2
People were also asked to complete music quizes and be rewarded financially for answering all questions correctly provided they did not cheat on the internet. Greeks came in the middle of the quiz whereas Turkish people were found to be dishonest.
Participants were also asked to rank other countries’ honesty, but it was found that their views did not reflect reality.
