By comparing the accuracy of the recalls of these participants three weeks later with that of the cheaters in the two conditions described above, we were able to identify their selective memories and their motives. For this reason, we carried out another experiment in which new participants – who had a scattered distribution of numbers in the lottery game – were not allowed to cheat when reporting their outcomes. Such a uniform distribution should be easier to remember than a scattered distribution. If participants don't lie in the lottery game, their outcomes over the 20 repetitions should give more or less a uniform distribution – where each number between 1 and 6 appears with the same frequency. In the hedonic condition, they do so not to recall themselves liars. The hypothesis was that, in the strategic condition, participants should forget their memories to avoid feeling morally obliged to return the money. ![]() On the other hand, the other half of participants had no such a chance to return their money, which provided the hedonic condition. They were encouraged to give the unethical gain back if they earned extra money by cheating during the first session. Before the recalling task, participants were informed that randomly assigned half people were allowed to voluntarily return some of their earned money, which provided the strategic condition. ![]() Each report was not obvious if it was a truth or a lie, but data collections from the 20 repetitions allowed us to identify 'cheaters'.ĭuring the second session, three weeks later, the same participants were asked to recall the number (that is, the monetary payoff) they had reported in each repetition during the first session as accurately as possible. Participants could thus technically 'cheat' and report a high number they didn't actually choose to earn more money. Afterward, the participants learned the numbers hidden in all the boxes, and then were asked to report the number of the box they had in mind. Each box hid a number between 1 and 6, associated with a monetary payoff (the higher the number, the higher the payoff). Each participant was asked to choose in their mind one of six boxes displayed in a wheel. The first session involved 20 repetitions of a simple lottery game that we referred to as the 'wheel game'. We set out the study to address this question by examining over 1300 participants in an online experiment over two sessions. Do we forget unethical behaviors in the past only for hedonic or affective reasons, for example, the maintenance of a good self-image? Or, do we so for forward-looking strategic reasons not to engage in future moral decisions? However, little is known about what motivates our memories that are highly selective. Our ability to forget immoral actions can help us maintain a clean mind in the future. Indeed, many people remember much more their generous behaviors than selfish actions. Such 'memory rearrangement' is our trait – we are able to selectively forget our bad deeds to defend ourselves and maintain a good self-image in society. Importantly, people tend to easily forget such unethical behaviors in the past, or perhaps 'unpleasant memories'. ![]() As a result, they may take unethical actions. Ethically speaking, people usually wish to be moral but they are often tempted to break the rules to gain benefits such as money and dignity. Ask yourself – how honest can you be? Have you ever lied in your life? In criminal matters, accused people often claim that they do not remember some details of a crime to mitigate their responsibility.
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