Impact of individuals’ cognition of lying on self-serving mistakes

This study examines how individuals' cognitions of lying influence their self-serving mistakes-errors that benefit the individual while preserving a moral self-image.In a dice reporting task, participants (N = 123) were exposed to varying levels of ambiguity (low, medium, high) and two incentive conditions (gain vs. loss).They were asked to report the value of a target die, with financial rewards tied to their responses.Participants' cognitions of lying were assessed using a scale developed by Tabata (2020), which comprises three subscales: negative perceptions of lying, belief in the improvability of lying ability, and genetic determinism of lying ability.The results indicate that greater ambiguity increases the frequency of errors, especially in the gain condition, where reporting a false value is financially advantageous.Participants who believed that lying could be improved or who held less negative cognitions of lying were more likely to adjust their responses strategically to minimize losses.Unlike previous studies (Kurokawa et al., 2023), this study administered the lying cognition scale before the experiment to mitigate potential bias arising from participants' awareness of the study's intent.This methodological refinement enhances the validity and suggests that self-serving mistakes and lying may exist on a continuum.These findings underscore the role of personal cognition in ethical decision-making and offer insights into dishonest behavior in economic and social contexts.Future research should consider implicit measures of lying cognitions to reduce participants' awareness and further examine the relationship between deception and self-serving justifications.