Content Matters: The Effects of Commitment Requests on Truth-Telling

Abstract

This paper uses a laboratory experiment to test how the request to sign a no-cheating declaration affects truth-telling. We find that the effects strongly depend on the declaration's content. Signing a no-cheating declaration increases truth-telling if it is morally charged, does not affect behavior if it is morally neutral, and reduces truth-telling if it is morally neutral and threatens to punish. The latter effect is driven by subjects with particularly high values on Hong's Psychological Reactance Scale. These are subjects with a tendency to push back if their freedom of choice is restricted.

Keywords: cheating; lying; truth-telling; compliance; commitment; no-cheating rule; no-cheating declaration

JEL Classification: D03, D81