Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/230973 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Papers of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods No. 2020/18
Publisher: 
Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn
Abstract: 
We investigate the influence of self and social image concerns as potential sources of lying costs. In a standard die-rolling experiment, we exogenously manipulate self-awareness and observability, which mediate the focus of a person on their private and public selves, respectively. First, we show that an increase in self-awareness has no effect on reporting private information. This suggests that self-image concerns may be less important than previously hypothesized in the literature on lying costs. Second, we show that increasing subjects' observability, while still maintaining private information, significantly decreases the subjects' reports. We finally show in a survey experiment that respondents believe that the likelihood of a lie increases with the reported outcome and attribute negative traits to people who make high reports. This further supports reputational concerns as the explanation behind the results of our social image treatment.
Subjects: 
honesty
truth-telling
lying
private information
self-image concerns
social imageconcerns
reputation
JEL: 
C91
D63
D82
D91
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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