Dan Ariely explains how dishonesty has a huge influence on human motivation and behavior. How honest is a banker? Under what situation is it best to lie, or cheat?

Human’s tend to do both things at the same time, but Dan Ariely says you can’t do both. You can’t benefit from dishonesty and feel good about yourself when you look in the mirror. Through cognitive psychology, you could lie to yourself about doing the right thing when you are being dishonest, or you can “rationalize” your actions.

Even people who think they are doing good by cheating just a little bit are dishonest, and they rationalize their actions on different levels. Honest people only have to rationalize a little bit, Ariely explains, otherwise there would be a huge impact on the economy, causing a “psychological distance between us and money.”

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Sourced: theRSAorg

Curated by: @KatherineNader, an online editor at Arbitrage Magazine. She is the author of The Deadly Mark, and is a student of Biology, English, and Professional Writing.