Abstract
Business educators’ mission is to help students develop knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills that will help them be successful once they graduate. This is certainly true of ethical issues, including the use of deception. This study reports on an assignment that can increase students’ awareness of their own capacity for deceptiveness, self-reflection on what this means for them and the greater business world, and awareness of the different types of deceptiveness that can and do occur. Data is provided from 239 undergraduate/graduate students at two universities on three campuses who completed a five-day deception measurement exercise. Students measured and categorized their deception behavior and reflected upon the results. Results suggest the objectives were met regardless of school location, method of classroom delivery, level of instruction, or whether the assignment was mandatory or not. The fact that this exercise has been used at multiple universities under almost every class modality suggests it can be successfully replicated at other universities for many courses.
Highlights
Deception occurs when an individual makes statements and/or engages in behaviors which intentionally mislead another party (Gaspar et al, 2019)
This study reports on an assignment that can increase students’ awareness of their own capacity for deceptiveness, self-reflection on what this means for them and the greater business world, and awareness of the different types of deceptiveness that can and do occur
Research has demonstrated that college students do engage in deception (e.g., Simkin & McLeod, 2010; Smith & Shen, 2013), and deceptive behaviors by college students can continue when they enter into the business world (Furutan, 2017)
Summary
Deception occurs when an individual makes statements and/or engages in behaviors which intentionally mislead another party (Gaspar et al, 2019). Much of our mission is to help students develop knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills that will help them be successful once they graduate This is certainly true of ethical issues, including the use of deception (Degen, 2018). There are many aspects of being deceptive, including such factors as intentionality (being deceptive for the benefit of the self or for the benefit of society), the type of deceptive content (deceptive information, the use of deceptive emotions), and the type of activity (a deceptive act of omission, commission, or to act/talk insincerely or misleadingly) (Carson, 2001; Gaspar et al, 2019) To answer these questions and provide students more information about their own capacity for deception, the following exercise was created and deployed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
