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Why Winners Become Cheaters (washingtonpost.com)

JoeyRox writes: A new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reveals a paradoxical aspect of human behavior — people who win in competitive situations are more likely to cheat in the future. In one experiment, 86 students were split up into pairs and competed in a game where cheating was impossible. The students were then rearranged into new pairs to play a second game where cheating was possible. The result? Students who won the first game were much more likely to cheat at the second game. Additional experiments indicated that cheating was also more likely if students simply recalled a memory of winning in the past. The experiments further demonstrated that subsequent cheating was more likely in situations where the outcome of previous competitions was determined by merit rather than luck.

1 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Makes sense by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

    You think that's a downer? Imagine what "I cheated and STILL lost" could do to your ego.

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    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.