【波士顿双语网讯】据中国《都市女报》报道，美国哈佛大学和犹他大学的学者联手进行了一项道德伦理研究，发现相比下午，人们在早上更诚实。这一发现也许会对人们的商业和社交行为产生一定的影响。
上图：犹他大学商学院的Lassonde Studios（资料图片）。
发表在《心理科学期刊》上的这项实验结果显示，与假设相一致，上午8点至中午12点接受测试的参与者，比在中午12点至下午6点接受测试的参与者做出的欺骗行为更少，他们会更好的把握住自己的这条“道德底线”，研究人员将这种现象称为“上午的道德效应”。在第二项实验中，研究人员在线进行了相同的测试，结果与第一个测试基本相同。这表明人们的道德底线的确会在下午有所降低。 （郭金兰）
The Morning Morality Effect
The Influence of Time of Day on Unethical Behavior
- Maryam Kouchaki1 Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University
- Isaac H. Smith2 Department of Management, University of Utah
Maryam Kouchaki, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University, 124 Mount Auburn St., Suite 520N, Cambridge, MA 02138 E-mail: [email protected],[email protected]
Author Contributions M. Kouchaki and I. H. Smith developed the study concept, designed the study, collected and analyzed the data, and drafted the manuscript. Both authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.
Abstract
Are people more moral in the morning than in the afternoon? We propose that the normal, unremarkable experiences associated with everyday living can deplete one’s capacity to resist moral temptations. In a series of four experiments, both undergraduate students and a sample of U.S. adults engaged in less unethical behavior (e.g., less lying and cheating) on tasks performed in the morning than on the same tasks performed in the afternoon. This morning morality effect was mediated by decreases in moral awareness and self-control in the afternoon. Furthermore, the effect of time of day on unethical behavior was found to be stronger for people with a lower propensity to morally disengage. These findings highlight a simple yet pervasive factor (i.e., the time of day) that has important implications for moral behavior.