(Not) alone in the world: Cheating in the presence of a virtual observer

Jantsje M. Mol; Eline C.M. van der Heijden; Jan J.M. Potters

doi:10.1007/s10683-020-09644-0

(Not) alone in the world: Cheating in the presence of a virtual observer

Jantsje M. Mol
, Eline C.M. van der Heijden
, Jan J.M. Potters^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Environmental Economics

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

We conducted an experiment in a high-immersive virtual reality environment to study the effect of the presence of a virtual observer on cheating behavior. Participants were placed in a virtual room and played 30 rounds of a cheating game without a chance of their cheating being detected. We varied whether or not a virtual observer (an avatar) was present in the room, and, if so, whether the avatar was actively staring at the decision maker or passively seated in a corner watching his smartphone. Results display significantly less cheating with an active than with a passive avatar, but not less cheating than in a control condition without an avatar. This suggests that an active (virtual) observer can intensify reputational concerns, but that the presence of someone passive and uninterested may actually alleviate such concerns.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	961-978
Number of pages	18
Journal	Experimental Economics
Volume	23
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10683-020-09644-0 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10683-020-09644-0
Publication status	Published - Dec 2020

Funding

We would like to thank conference participants at TIBER 2017, VR Workshop Aachen 2017 and M-BEES 2018 for valuable comments. We would also like to thank the development team of the DAF Technology lab: Anton Sluijtman, Rob Vossen, Hans van den Dool, Erwin Peters and Dineke Kolen. The DAF Technology Lab is partially funded by a philanthropic donation from the PACCAR foundation/DAF Trucks, and with funding from the European Union, OP Zuid, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Province of Noord-Brabant and the municipalities of Tilburg and Gilze Rijen (PROJ-00076) awarded to Tilburg University. The usual exculpations apply.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Keywords

Cheating
Virtual reality experiment
Watching eyes effect

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abstract = "We conducted an experiment in a high-immersive virtual reality environment to study the effect of the presence of a virtual observer on cheating behavior. Participants were placed in a virtual room and played 30 rounds of a cheating game without a chance of their cheating being detected. We varied whether or not a virtual observer (an avatar) was present in the room, and, if so, whether the avatar was actively staring at the decision maker or passively seated in a corner watching his smartphone. Results display significantly less cheating with an active than with a passive avatar, but not less cheating than in a control condition without an avatar. This suggests that an active (virtual) observer can intensify reputational concerns, but that the presence of someone passive and uninterested may actually alleviate such concerns.",

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(Not) alone in the world: Cheating in the presence of a virtual observer

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

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