Honest Behavior Research Articles

Belief game: Verifying smart contract functionality in player dynamic interactions

Smart contracts, being security-critical code, facilitate consensus among players and ensure secure and accurate value transfer, and formal verification is necessary to guarantee functional correctness of contracts. Game theory serves as one of the tools in formal verification by assessing whether the outcomes of contract executions meet the expected goals. While most studies employing game theory to verify smart contract functionality assume rational players, in practice, players may invoke and deploy smart contracts involving irrational behavior, casting doubt on the correctness of verification results. The aim of this study is to propose an alternative game model to verify smart contract functionality in dynamic player interactions where irrational behavior is involved. Specifically, a belief-based smart contract execution game (BSC-game) model was introduced, utilizing belief – the probability that a player believes in the irrationality of others – to capture how the irrational behavior of others affects a player’s contract execution decisions. Reasonable economic incentives were introduced to encourage honest behavior of players. Moreover, a computationally feasible method was designed to update players’ beliefs in large-scale dynamic smart contract executions. Theoretical analysis discloses the existence of equilibrium in the BSC-game, as well as the conditions for the number of faulty players within the system’s fault tolerance. We conducted the simulation experiments, and verified the business-oriented smart contract written in G language by the BSC-game model. The results further indicate that although players’ beliefs impact their decisions to execute contracts, reasonable economic incentives can motivate players to execute contracts honestly. This ensures that smart contract functionality aligns with expected goals, showing that the BSC-game model can verify and guarantee the correctness of contract functions. This new approach significantly contributes to bolstering smart contract security and credibility, positively influencing blockchain stability.

Laba Pedagang dalam Perspektif Budaya Pasar Tradisional

The purpose of this study is to describe the nomenclature of the meaning of the application of profit to traders viewed from a cultural perspective. This research method uses a qualitative paradigm that uses a realist ethnographic approach. Data collection uses participant observation and in-depth interviews conducted by snowball. Data validity testing uses a credibility test with member checks, transferability, and dependability. Data analysis uses the Spradley model. The results of the data analysis were found. First, the culture of 'unggah-ungguh boso' and the culture of 'ijab qobul' are caused by polite behavior. Second, honest behavior and fairness are caused by trust. More customers cause third, blessed profit and efforts to survive. Comprehensively, trust strengthens the influence of polite culture on blessed profit. These findings have practical implications for traders, highlighting the importance of cultural understanding in profit application.

Academic Dishonesty from the Perspective of Primary School Teachers

Abstract Introduction: Academic dishonesty is addressed by various experts in pedagogy and psychology who seek to preserve academic integrity in accordance with the moral and ethical principles of contemporary society. Methods: The intention of the research was to find out how teachers evaluate different types of cheating by students during class, how they react to different types of academic dishonesty, and how they themselves were dishonest during their time in college. Teachers (N=272, mean age 40.85 years) responded on a 5-point Likert scale the attitudes towards morality, but also whether students cheated or self-reported their academic dishonesty when they were students. Results: Factor analysis indicated the existence of 4 factors of teachers’ moral beliefs (Trust in implicit morality, Teacher-given morality, Need for explicit rules, and Internalization of moral principles), which were correlated with students’ assessment of academic dishonesty (Use of external resources, Cooperation) and with teachers’ self-reported academic dishonesty (Utilitarianism, Unauthorized advantage, and Helping others). Discussion: The research findings suggest that teachers should focus more on understanding their pupils’ behaviour rather than condemning or punishing academic dishonesty and seek to develop their moral competence. Limitations: The research sample size is not representative, also the research method is not standardized. Conclusions: The role of teachers is to apply teaching strategies that will promote honest and responsible student behaviour.

Do People Answer Honestly When Asked About a No Honest Behavior?

Abstract: Recently assessment of bullshitting has gained considerable interest. However, self-report measures of bullshitting are at risk of socially desirability (SD) responding because people are questioned about a sensitive and personal topic (i.e., their tendency to embellish or modify the truth to portray themselves positively). This study aims to identify the impact of SD on the Bullshitting Frequency Scale (BSF) to ensure that the scale can provide sound measures. Italian ( N = 298, 69.80% female) and English participants ( N = 301, 72.76% female) were recruited. To overcome some limitations of the classical procedures used to deal with SD, factor analysis was employed to identify and control this response bias. At the same time, the validation of the Italian version of the BSF (BSF-I) was conducted to provide evidence that the scale maintains its psychometric properties once translated into Italian. Factor analysis confirmed the two-factor structure of the scale and factor loadings indicated a minimal impact of SD. Multidimensional IRT showed moderate to excellent MDISC values and strong conditional reliability. Multigroup CFA indicated strict invariance across genders and metric invariance across Italian and English versions. The BSF-I showed sound psychometric properties and these findings suggest that people answer honestly when asked about bullshitting.

Using Hypothetical Scenarios to Address Social Desirability Bias: Investigating Student Perceptions, Evaluations, and Motivations of Cheating and Academic Integrity in the General Chemistry Laboratory.

Supporting students with upholding the principles of academic integrity is an important aspect of teaching. Academic integrity is especially important in chemistry laboratory classrooms, where students gain hands-on experience related to research and scientific practices. Prior literature on academic integrity largely focuses on catching and preventing cheating, describing various factors commonly associated with cheating behaviors. This body of literature assumes that students neutralize their feelings about cheating to engage in unethical behavior. In contrast, for this study, we began with the assumption that students intend to act ethically; to this end, we sought to investigate students' perceptions, evaluations, and motivations related to cheating and academic integrity. We interviewed 24 students enrolled in general chemistry laboratories and asked questions related to cheating and academic integrity. Additionally, to address concerns about social desirability bias affecting students' responses, we asked students questions involving hypothetical scenarios related to academic integrity that were contextualized within the chemistry laboratory classroom. In our analysis, we found that students held common views about cheating and academic integrity in general but diverged in their responses to the hypothetical scenarios. Our findings suggest the importance of providing clearer, more direct instruction regarding what counts as cheating and how to engage in academically honest behavior within the chemistry laboratory classroom.

Committed (dis)honesty: A systematic meta-analytic review of the divergent effects of social commitment to individuals or honesty oaths on dishonest behavior.

People feel committed to other individuals, groups, organizations, or moral norms in many contexts of everyday life. Such social commitment can lead to positive outcomes, such as increased job satisfaction or relationship longevity; yet, there can also be detrimental effects to feeling committed. Recent high-profile cases of fraud or corruption in companies like Enron or Volkswagen are likely influenced by strong commitment to the organization or coworkers. Although social commitment might increase dishonest behavior, there is little systematic knowledge about when and how this may occur. In the present project, we reviewed 20,988 articles, focusing on studies that experimentally manipulated social commitment and measured dishonest behavior. We retained 445 effect sizes from 121 articles featuring a total of 91,683 participants across 33 countries. We found no evidence that social commitment increases or reduces dishonest behavior in general. Nonetheless, we did find evidence that the effect strongly depends on the target of the commitment. Feeling committed to other individuals or groups reduces honest behavior (g = -0.17 [-0.24, -0.11]), whereas feeling committed to honesty norms through honesty oaths or pledges increases honest behavior (g = 0.27 [0.19, 0.36]). The analysis identified several moderating variables and detected some degree of publication bias across effects. Our findings highlight the diverging effects of different forms of social commitment on dishonest behavior and suggest a combination of the different forms of commitment could be a possible means to combat corruption and dishonest behavior in the organizational context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Security proof for variable-length quantum key distribution

We present a security proof for variable-length QKD in the Renner framework against IID collective attacks. Our proof can be lifted to coherent attacks using the postselection technique. Our first main result is a theorem to convert a sequence of security proofs for fixed-length protocols satisfying certain conditions to a security proof for a variable-length protocol. This conversion requires no new calculations, does not require any changes to the final key lengths or the amount of error-correction information, and at most doubles the security parameter. Our second main result is the description and security proof of a more general class of variable-length QKD protocols, which does not require characterizing the honest behavior of the channel connecting the users before the execution of the QKD protocol. Instead, these protocols adaptively determine the length of the final key, and the amount of information to be used for error correction, based upon the observations made during the protocol. We apply these results to the qubit BB84 protocol, and show that variable-length implementations lead to higher expected key rates than the fixed-length implementations. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

SOCIO-PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS OF LEADERSHIP AND ITS IMPACT ON THE FORMATION OF AN ANTI-CORRUPTION ENVIRONMENT IN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

The article explores the socio-philosophical aspects of leadership in the context of the formation of an anti-corruption environment in law enforcement agencies. The author analyzes the influence of various leadership styles on the ethics and professional behavior of law enforcement officers in the context of countering corruption. The article examines the practical aspects of the implementation of anti-corruption measures based on the principles of leadership, including the formation of corporate culture, training and development of personnel, as well as mechanisms to stimulate honest and lawful behavior of employees. The study concludes that the role of leadership in creating an effective anti-corruption environment in law enforcement agencies is important and provides recommendations for improving management practices to achieve this goal.

Reducing dishonest disclosures during expense reimbursement: investigating the predictive power of the technology acceptance model with a corporate governance perspective

PurposeCompanies allowing employees to self-report business expenses face the risk of expense fraud because some occasionally engage in dishonest behavior to receive reimbursements for their use. Drawing on the technology acceptance model, this study aims to investigate the effects of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived security on the trust in e-reimbursement systems and the relationship with honest disclosure intention.Design/methodology/approachA self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 254 respondents, with the partial least squares structural equation modeling used to analyze the data.FindingsThe findings showed that perceived security and perceived usefulness explained trust in e-reimbursement systems, whereas perceived ease of use had no significant effect on it. Corporate governance and trust in e-reimbursement systems have a positive relationship with whistleblowing intention. At the same time, corporate governance mediates the relationship between trust in e-reimbursement systems and honest disclosure intention.Originality/valueThis study sheds light on using e-reimbursement systems within organizations to prevent fraudulent reimbursements and offers recommendations to management on enhancing employees’ intention to engage in honest disclosure behavior through e-reimbursement systems.

Financial fraud and investor awareness

In a retail financial market, firms strategically choose whether to commit financial fraud to exploit naive investors who are unaware of such practices. In a leader-follower setting, we identify a segmented equilibrium in which an honest firm offers a normal product to sophisticated investors, while a dishonest firm offers a fraudulent product that targets naive investors. Competition may not benefit investors because the presence of a rival firm reduces the profitability of offering a normal product and thus discourages honest behavior. If there is a positive cost of entry, the incumbent firm may strategically switch to offering a fraudulent product to deter entry. As a result, policies that alter the entry barriers to the market may have unintended negative effects on welfare. In the segmented equilibrium with free entry, the honest firm has an incentive to disclose information about financial fraud and steal market share from the dishonest firm. However, this incentive is limited because such disclosure may prompt the dishonest firm to deviate and compete for the normal product market.

Ways of improving the efficiency of administrative and legal ensuring the honorable behavior of military officials in the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The purpose of the article is to determine ways to improve the effectiveness of administrative and legal support for the virtuous behavior of military officials in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
 The legal regime of martial law contributes to the emergence of new and strengthening of existing corruption risks, which are inherent in the activities of military administration bodies. Analysis of court practice, reports of mass media and social networks shows the existence of numerous examples of unscrupulous behavior of military personnel, which lowers the authority of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations.
 It is argued that the improvement of the legal regulation of the virtuous behavior of military officials in the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be based on the harmonization of legislation along two main vectors: 1) ensuring the compliance of the array of subordinate legal acts with the content of the Constitution and laws of Ukraine; 2) taking into account the trends in the development of integrity in the North Atlantic Alliance and their compliance with the national characteristics of the formation of honest behavior of military personnel.
 It was concluded that increasing the effectiveness of administrative and legal protection of the integrity of military personnel includes four main directions. First, it is a direction of monitoring legislation, the purpose of which is to determine the spheres of activity and powers of military officials, in which unreasonably large-scale discretionary powers are established. Such discretionary powers make it possible to freely interpret the content of the legal norm and make decisions in areas sensitive from the point of view of corruption risks. Secondly, it is the direction of the formation of the personality of a military serviceman, which should be understood as a long-term systematic process of developing intolerance to corruption offenses and awareness of the importance of strict compliance with legal prescriptions, which should be reflected in the value structure of the individual. Thirdly, it is the improvement of feedback processes between all links of the military management system with the aim of obtaining by the subjects of democratic civilian control and internal departmental control operational and objective information about the causes and conditions that contribute to the unscrupulous behavior of servicemen.

The effect of experiences of fairness on honest behavior: a behavioral and neural study.

Prior studies have investigated the relationship between fairness and honesty. However, the differences in the focus of these studies have rendered cross-comparisons between them challenging and of limited value. Thus, this study explored how fairness impacts honest decision-making, focusing specifically on the effect of individuals' experiences of fairness on their honest behavior. Experiment 1 explored the influence of different experiences of fairness on honest behavior in an altruistic context. In Experiment 2, we measured event-related potentials to further demonstrate the brain mechanisms of these experiences on altruistic dishonest behavior. In Experiment 1, we found that the reaction time for dishonest behavior was shorter for individuals who had positive unfairness experiences with high altruistic objects compared to low altruistic objects. Individuals who had negative unfairness experiences had shorter reaction times when engaging in dishonest behaviors for the sake of high altruistic objects compared to those with equitable experiences. In Experiment 2, in which there was an opportunity to lie for a highly altruistic object, those with fair experiences had greater N2 volatility and smaller P3 volatility than those with positive unfairness experiences. These findings highlight the value of integrating moral psychology and behavioral economics. Discriminant validity across fairness experiences can help illuminate the different motivations behind moral decisions.

How true is the truth? A study of the factors affecting honest response behaviour of patients in hospital settings

Purpose The current study is aimed at identifying the prominent influencers that affect the response behaviour of patients in a hospital environment.Design/methodology/approach The research is based on the data collected through the participant observation method while interviewing patients about the quality of healthcare services in nine community health centres of the Kashmir division. Thematic analysis was performed on the information collected from patients admitted to various hospital sections.Findings The analysis of the qualitative data revealed that the presence of hospital staff near respondents, perceived risk of maltreatment, social desirability, the sensitivity of the topic, risk of information sharing and attitude towards surveys are the most frequently observed factors that modulate the patient's tendency to truthfully report critical facts about the problem understudy.Originality/value These results can help researchers to exercise caution while communicating with respondents and collecting data related to serious issues in a natural setting.

ISLAMIC SPIRITUAL EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES IN STRENGTHENING THE INTEGRITY OF IMMIGRATION POLYTECHNIC CADETS, MINISTRY OF LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS

This study discusses Islamic spiritual extracurricular activities in strengthening the integrity of cadets at the Immigration Polytechnic of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. The purpose of this study is to obtain an overview of Islamic spiritual extracurricular programs in strengthening the integrity of cadets, it is also hoped that good integrity will also bring students to a good and useful community environment and become part of a good society. The approach used in this research is a qualitative approach with the case study method. Collecting data using observation, interviews and documentation. The findings in this study are that integrity is developed including honest behavior, consistent attitude, commitment to the vision and mission of the organization, objectivity to problems, courage to make decisions and ready to accept risks, discipline and responsibility, track record of performance. This can be formed through activities carried out by Islamic spiritual extracurriculars at the Immigration Polytechnic of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights such as events that are routine every year such as commemorating religious holidays such as Isra Miraj, Maulid Nabi. This can provide provisions for students to be able to have good integrity which will be used as provisions in carrying out their duties as state apparatus in the field of immigration and in social life, so that they will become individuals who are very beneficial to the surrounding environment.

Ethical Implications of Deceptive Earnings Management Practices

This study is devoted to the analysis of the consequences of using deceptive methods of income management and the justification of the importance of observing ethical standards in financial reporting to ensure the sustainable development of companies. The purpose of the study is to evaluate existing revenue management practices from the point of view of their compliance with ethical standards of business conduct. Based on a critical review of the literature on income management, it was concluded that the use of fraudulent methods, especially in the preparation of financial statements, reduces the integrity and reliability of information used by interested parties in making management decisions, distorts the distribution of resources, hinders the efficient functioning of capital markets and endangers the stable functioning of the economy. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that transparency, honesty and accountability in financial activities play an important role in creating a business environment that encourages fair and honest behavior. This contributes to the preservation of the interests of interested parties and the sustainable growth of the economy due to the observance of ethical standards in the field of business. Based on the analysis of existing revenue management practices, it has been proven that the artificial increase in share prices, the use of shadow financial transactions, and the reduction of the workforce contribute to the growth of companies’ profits, due to the dismissal of experienced employees and, possibly, the reduction of its future competitiveness. The study theoretically proves the need for organizations to find a balance between financial activities and their compliance with ethical norms, taking into account that short-term profits achieved through questionable activities can ultimately lead to a decrease in trust in companies and serve as a threat to their long-term viability. The results of the study can be useful for managers of enterprises, shareholders and subjects of the financial system as a whole from the point of view of a deeper understanding of ethical problems related to income management and ways to increase the transparency and reliability of information displayed in financial statements of companies.

How to Increase Political Awareness and Formation of National Political Identity Through Citizenship Education?

Political awareness is very important to be built from an early age in the younger generation. It encourages them to participate and contribute to their nation. This study aims to see how far the effectiveness of citizenship education is in an effort to increase political awareness and national political identity for the younger generation. This study uses a quantitative approach to the type of evaluation design research model. The evaluation instrument used was context, input, process, and product (CIPP), while the data analysis method used descriptive quantitative data analysis. The results of this study are that Pancasila and Citizenship Education (PPKn) has a vision and mission to develop students into human beings who have a sense of nationality and love for the motherland, through the process of accepting and carrying out the teachings of their religion; have honest behavior, discipline, responsibility; and are polite, caring, and confident in interacting with family, friends, and teachers. The findings in this study are that the components in citizenship education are materials taught to students contained in the book Pancasila and Citizenship Education, which includes components to fulfill indicators of forming students’ political awareness, and citizenship education learning strategies have also used a strategy of involving students in the environment where they live. To increase participation, use strategies for activities in schools to increase tolerance and awareness as citizens. A strategy is carried out involving several relevant stakeholders such as election administrators and the police. The formation of national identity in the citizenship education component is that material taught to students to enhance the formation of national identity has not been included in the material being taught; therefore, learning strategies to achieve the formation of student national identity have not been carried out.
 Keywords: Political Awareness, Formation of National Political Identity, Citizenship Education.

The evolutionary game analysis of the decision-making behavior of live streaming stakeholders under the value co-creation.

Integrity-linked issues have become increasingly serious and attracted considerable attention regarding the sustainability of live streaming; therefore, live streaming anchors and suppliers have become increasingly concerned about their ongoing marketing. Moreover, streaming platforms are also beginning to focus on sustainable development. Determining how live streaming anchor behavior, supplier behavior, and streaming platform strategic decision affect live streaming is essential for achieving the healthy and sustainable development of live streaming ecosystems. However, the game among live streaming anchor behavior, supplier behavior, and streaming platform strategic decisions, which the live streaming ecosystem strongly depends on, has attracted little attention. This study constructed a game model of value co-creation evolution in live streaming ecosystems, with the live streaming anchors, suppliers, and streaming platforms as the main subject. The evolutionary stable strategies of the game were analyzed, and the influence of typical factors on the system was discussed. The results showed that the best evolutionary stability strategy is that live streaming anchors and suppliers choose honesty, and streaming platforms have strict regulation, which is the optimal strategic objective for value co-creation. The appropriate rewards and punishments inherent in a streaming platform can help regulate the behavior of the live streaming anchor and supplier; specifically, great rewards and severe punishments of the streaming platform can be applied to incentivize the honest behavior of the live streaming anchor and supplier. This study provides insights for designing appropriate policies for live streaming platforms to promote sustainable development.

FairShare: Blockchain Enabled Fair, Accountable and Secure Data Sharing for Industrial IoT

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) opens up a challenging research area towards improving secure data sharing which currently has several limitations. Primarily, the lack of inbuilt guarantees of honest behavior of participating, such as end-users or cloud behaving maliciously may result in disputes. Given such challenges, we propose a fair, accountable, and secure data sharing scheme, FairShare for IIoT. In this scheme, data collected from IoT devices are processed and stored in cloud servers with intermediate fog nodes facilitating computation. Authorized clients can access this data against some fee to make strategic decisions for improving the operational services of the IIoT system. By enabling blockchain, FairShare prevents fraudulent activities and thereby achieves fairness such that each party gets their rightful outcome in terms of data or penalty/rewards while simultaneously ensuring accountability of the services provided by the parties. Additionally, smart contracts are designed to act as a mediator during any dispute by enforcing payment settlement. Further, security and privacy of data are ensured by suitably applying cryptographic techniques like proxy re-encryption. We prove FairShare to be secure as long as at least one of the parties is honest. We validate FairShare with a theoretical overhead analysis. We also build a prototype in Ethereum to estimate performance and justify comparable results with a state-of-the-art scheme both via simulation and a realistic testbed setup. We observe an additional communication overhead of 256 bytes and a cost of deployment of 1.01 USD in Ethereum which are constant irrespective of file size.

Tracing the Confucian Merchant Culture in the Spatial Layout of Traditional Commercial and Residential Buildings using Space Syntax

Confucian merchant culture is the mainstream of traditional business culture. Regarding the research on Confucian merchant culture, researchers mostly conduct research from the perspectives of business management methods, business philosophy, and training people in business, emphasizing honest and trustworthy business management behaviour and the moral cultivation of business operators, and lack of research on commercial business sites. As the main type of traditional commercial buildings, Traditional commercial and residential buildings' spatial layout and spatial functions are closely related to the Confucian merchant culture. In particular, Confucianism contained in the Confucian merchant culture considerably impacted the traditional Chinese architectural form due to Confucianism's absolute dominance in traditional Chinese society. Thus, analysing the spatial layout and usage effectively traces the traditional commercial and residential building culture. The main research issues of this paper are the reflection of the spatial configuration on the cultural connotation of Confucian merchants and the characteristics of the deeper social environment and social-cultural system. This study examined a traditional exchange shop in central Shandong as an example. Through the visual analysis and Axial analysis of space syntax, the spatial layout characteristics under the influence of Confucian merchant culture in traditional commercial and residential buildings and the use relationship of different spaces corresponding to different users are investigated. The results showed that under the influence of Confucian merchant culture, the spatial layout and functions of traditional commercial and residential buildings reflect the ritual system and the people-oriented Confucian business philosophy. The concept of hierarchy in Confucian businessman culture has led to the dual-use buildings of commercial and residential buildings, still emphasizing the hierarchical distinction of architectural space. It further reflects the characteristics of unequal distribution of social resources in traditional commercial buildings leading to unequal use of architectural space.

On social norms and observability in (dis)honest behavior

Transparency and observability have been shown to foster ethical decision-making as people tend to comply with an underlying norm for honesty. However, in situations implying a social norm for dishonesty, this might be different. In a die-rolling experiment, we investigate whether observability can also have detrimental effects. We thus introduce a norm nudge toward honesty or dishonesty and make participants’ decisions observable and open to the judgement of other participants in order to manipulate the observability of people’s decisions as well as the underlying social norm. We find that a nudge toward honesty indeed increases the level of honesty, suggesting that such a norm nudge can successfully induce behavioral change. Our introduction of social image concerns via observability, however, does not affect honesty and does not interact with our norm nudge.