Cheating, lying and stealing certainly aren't new social practices, but they were apparently fashionable in 2009.
The year saw a string of scandals involving high-profile personalities from politicians (Gov. Mark Sanford, Sen. John Ensign, Rep. William Jefferson), to corporate executives (Bernie Madoff, Raj Rajaratnam, Allen Stanford) to one golfer pictured here.
Why are powerful people seemingly so powerless to prevent their own transgressions? A new study published in the upcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science offers some explanation.
From ScienceDaily:
"Researchers sought to determine whether power inspires hypocrisy, the tendency to hold high standards for others while performing morally suspect behaviors oneself. The research finds that power makes people stricter in moral judgment of others -- while being less strict of their own behavior."
While this assertion may seem obvious at face value -- and likely just as common among those who aren't rich and/or famous -- the level of moral hypocrisy evident in the powerful and influential is greater than those who don't share these qualities, as suggested by the experiments conducted by the study's authors.
For their experiments, the researchers from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University assigned participants either "high-power" or "low-power" roles. Those in high-power roles were more likely not only to cheat, but also to criticize those in low-power roles who were engaging in the same behavior.
More from ScienceDaily:
"[M]oral hypocrisy has its greatest impact among people who are legitimately powerful. In contrast, a fifth experiment demonstrated that people who don't feel personally entitled to their power are actually harder on themselves than they are on others, which is a phenomenon the researchers dubbed 'hypercrisy.'"
With 2010 approaching, could a collective New Year's resolution among the powerful to abstain from lying, cheating or stealing prevent a repeat of 2009? Not likely.
Tags: Current Events
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