Editorial: Uncovering Dishonesty

Every day the news reports about scandals in the public and private sectors. Recent examples include cases of briberies (Samsung Electronics, Sang-Hun, Kwaak, & Mozur, 2017), falsified information (Kobe Steel, Obayashi, 2018, Volkswagen emissions scandal (n.d.), 2018), or illegal charging of customers (e.g., Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo account fraud scandal). Arguably, such publicly documented instances of dishonesty account for a small part of the costs associated with dishonesty in the world only. Next to (documented and non-documented) cheating by organizations, many people show examples of dishonest behavior in their private lives, e.g., cheating on taxes, committing insurance frauds, or wardrobing. Moreover, studies have suggested that observing dishonesty can affect own dishonest behavior (e.g., Gino et al., 2009, Scigala et al., in press). Overall, dishonest behavior has severe consequences for societies, with costs up to several millions, or even billions, of US dollars every year (e.g., European Commission, 2014, Hardoon and Heinrich, 2011).