Leading into Corruption

Posted on February 25, 2017

Photo: flickr

A study published in Psychological Science suggests that corruption, as some of us may believe, is not a gradual process where misdeeds build over time. Research says that people who tend to fall to corruption, surrounded by millions of dollars and well connected, actually do so all at once when a "golden opportunity" arises.

The study conducted an experiment to test what kind of conditions lead people to fall into corruption. The authors wanted to know whether people fall into corruption more easily if the chance was presented to them little by little or all at once. The results support the latter, in both online and in-person conditions with imaginary and real money. This is also known as the golden opportunity, where the chance to attain large and immediate benefits appears.

Yet, why would people accept the greater risk? In other words, why are people more prone to fall into corruption when they are given this golden opportunity? Of course, there are the immediate benefits, but at the same time, there is very high risk. At present time, the answer is still unclear. However, researchers do theorize that perhaps it is because it is a single act that influences them to feel more okay about the misdeed. Instead of committing multiple acts of corruption that are less severe, people would rather do it once.


Source material from Scientific American