Originally found at Phys.org

Most people value honesty while also recognizing that it is sometimes beneficial to be dishonest. This tension leads individuals to engage in behaviors that stretch the boundaries of honest behavior, such as strategically avoiding information, dodging questions, and making misleading statements. In a new article, researchers reviewed work from a range of disciplines to develop a framework that highlights how honest behavior encompasses much more than the commonly held view of either telling the truth or lying.

Based on their findings, the authors say the narrow focus on honest content, which largely reduces the study of honesty to lying versus truth-telling, is problematic and connected to modern day societal challenges such as the spread of misinformation. Instead, they suggest that honest behavior is a complex phenomenon that is more than a single behavior focused on truth-telling; it is a broader relational act of communication.

Continue reading the original article at Phys.org.

Read the original research in  Academy of Management Annals.

Learn more about the AOM Scholars and explore their work:

• Binyamin Cooper, Carnegie Mellon University
• Taya R. Cohen, Carnegie Mellon University
• Emma E. Levine, University of Chicago