People say they want their politician to be honest but usually find it gruelling to tell if that is what they are getting . However , two economists realize that even when it‘s difficult to measure an individual ’s honesty , statistical tests can measure the proportion of truth - singing and find characteristics assort with gravid honesty . In particular , they come up that Spaniard search an honest mayor should look outside the major party .
Universitat Pompeu Fabra Ph.D. studentKatharina JanezicandDr Aina Gallegoof the Institut Barcelona Estudis Internationals sent sketch to 816 Spanish mayors and asked them how concerned they were in take in the survey ’s consequence . Almost half said they were very lancinate and most of the quietus were “ quite concerned ” . At the end of the survey , the mayors were asked to flip a coin and report the results . Only those who answered heads would get the information they desired .
There was no way of acknowledge whether an individual city manager told the truth , but the sample was big enough the true upshot overall could not have been very different from 50 percentage . Yet 68 pct report their coin pass yielded heads , a near impossibleness if all were report honestly , Janezic and Gallego report inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , point some 36 pct who flipped tails lied .
The fact more than half told the truth , even without the risk of getting caught , may storm some people accustomed to the view that “ all politicians lie ” , undercut the cynicism that benefits the genuine liars .
When the team compared subgroup , human being and womanhood were almost exactly as likely to account a head toss , but political association mattered . Of the more than half the mayors who come from one of Spain ’s two major parties ( the center - right wing Partido Popular and center - pull up stakes Partido Socialista Obrero Español ) , 71 percentage reported heads compared to 64 pct of independents and members of smaller party .
“ Together with the determination that all groups had significant levels of prevarication , this suggest that member of major parties lied significantly more , ” the paper note . The sample size was insufficient for greater point .
Unsurprisingly , those most dying to get the upshot were also more likely to lie – 76 percent of the “ very interested ” respondents report a principal .
Studies of honesty in other groups have commonly tested whether pecuniary rewards rush dishonest behavior . However , the author avoided this based on retiring research that politicians are deeply wary of financial inducements . entropy , on the other bridge player , could not be consider an illegal bribe but was sufficiently worthful to most participants to test the effectiveness of their commitment to the truth . Interestingly , the comparable studies the authors could find reported gravid honestness among thegeneral populationandbankerswhen money was on offer than from Spain ’s mayors with the hope information .
However , in election held shortly after the subject , mayors who reported heads were more likely to get ahead than those who answer honestly against their interest .
