Gender differences in dishonesty when leaders make decisions on behalf of their team

This study examines the ethical dilemma faced by leaders, balancing financial gains and ethical considerations, with a focus on gender differences. We experimentally study such a dilemma in which leaders can benefit their teams at the expense of moral costs from dishonest reporting. We measure, first, individual dishonesty preferences and, second, reporting decisions for teams in a leadership role using outcome-reporting games in a laboratory setting. Individual dishonesty preferences predict men’s propensity to apply for leadership. We further find that women have lower initial dishonesty preferences compared to men but increase dishonesty when assuming leadership roles. A follow-up study indicates that women leaders act dishonestly when they expect that most team members also report dishonestly. When leadership roles are randomly assigned rather than self-selected, we find no statistically significant difference in how women and men respond to them.