I did however glean some of Ariely’s bigger picture ideas:• Most people cheat a little, but very few cheat a lot.
• If offered the incentive to cheat most people will not jump at the chance immediately. Keep offering them the opportunity, however, and eventually they will do so. Ariely and Szalavitz call this the ‘What the hell effect’.
• Across a range of areas - school, law, sex, game, tech, work - men are more likely to be dishonest than women. If, however, a woman is dishonest in one area, she is more likely to be dishonest in all areas than a man.
• Ariely and Szalavitz have no evidence to suggest that people are less likely to cheat an individual than they are to cheat an institution or company. The idea of “sticking it to the man”, says Ariely, is probably just a cover for our own selfishness.