Researchers at The University of Chicago and University of Pennsylvania were interested in deception within the marketplace of ideas. The dynamics of deception differ here because the deception is often motivated by a drive to uphold personal values important to the liar rather than the desire to make money.
People like to see themselves as trustworthy. When lying in order to make more money or protect themselves from criticism, people aim to lie only as much as they feel is absolutely necessary. But a moral imperative to defend personal values can readily flood away such restraint. People will justify the deception as being in the service of a greater good, allowing misstatements to gain a greater breadth and intensity.
Benevolence is an example of a moral motive seen among the studies reviewed by the researchers. We lie to help or to avoid harming others. Examples of this I’ve encountered include the diner with the slightly overcooked steak who tells the server that everything is perfect even though it’s not. A woman leaves her hairdresser the usual tip, although the woman is not at all comfortable with the unexpected new look.
But deception driven by benevolence has an ugly side. The server, the chef, and the hairdresser have missed out on valuable information. In a Cornell University study, it was found that job supervisors pulled punches when providing feedback to women. This happened much less often with male employees. The explanation was that people believe women are less confident than men about their job performance. Supervisors want to encourage women to do well by overaccentuating the positives. Building confidence, not questioning competence. The problem is that the white lies deprive women employees of the constructive criticism they need in order to most quickly become superb performers.
The Chicago/Pennsylvania researchers caution about other moral motives, such as lying to protect values of group loyalty or individual freedom, and about forms of deception aside from outright falsehoods, such as obfuscation.
Let’s present our arguments ethically in the most persuasive ways. In doing this, let’s realize how deeply felt moral intentions might generate lies which cause destructive actions.
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