Gender differences in face-to-face deceptive behavior

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the role of face-to-face interaction with respect to gender differences in deceptive behavior and perceived honesty. In the first part, we compare the deceptive behavior of women and men using data from an incentivized income-reporting experiment with three treatments. Reporting was fully computerized in the baseline treatment but took place face to face in the second and third treatments. It was possible for lies to be detected within the scope of an audit: there was a given probability that an audit would take place in the first and second treatments, whereas the perceptions of others determined whether or not an audit would occur in the third treatment. In the computerized baseline treatment, the deceptive behavior of women and men was statistically indistinguishable. However, women’s truthfulness increased when face-to-face interaction was introduced in the second treatment. In contrast, males’ deceptive behavior did not change until the third treatment, when the probability of an audit taking place depended on their perceived honesty. Then, men’s truthfulness rose sharply, and they behaved significantly more honestly than women, who showed no behavioral differences between the second and third treatments. In the second part we expand upon these gender differences by analyzing video recordings of income-reporting statements recorded in an experimental setting similar to the third treatment. Third parties assessed how honest they considered the recorded statements to be. Men were perceived to be less honest. Our findings suggest that men correctly anticipated that others would perceive them to be dishonest, which is consistent with the results from the first part.