Dishonesty and the Self: Ironic Effects of Ego Depletion

Abstract

The current studies test the ethical behavior of compartmentalized and integrative individuals in either a neutral context or one which tempts participants via ego depletion. Previous research links a compartmentalized self-structure to less ethical behavior in neutral contexts (Showers, Thomas, & Grundy, 2015). Consistent with previous results, compartmentalization was positively associated with cheating within a neutral non-depletion condition. However, integration was positively associated with cheating in the tempting context created by ego depletion. Additional findings show that the positive association between integration and cheating was limited to integrative individuals who also reported a relatively negative self-concept (Study 1) or high self-control (Study 2). Although integration is associated with more ethical behavior under neutral circumstances, the current results suggest that integrative individuals may be especially likely to behave unethically in tempting situations. These results are consistent with the interpretation that ego depletion may exert an ironic effect on integrative individuals because they avoid unethical behavior under neutral circumstances and therefore have little experience resisting temptation (cf. Imhoff, Schmidt, & Gerstenberg, 2014).