Shine a Light on Honesty

Tax season is here. Yeah, that's right — that special time of year when the April 15 tax deadline looms and the temptation to fudge numbers is great. After all, who enjoys doing taxes or even more so, paying them? It is the one time of year when cheating could seem like a reasonable option.

But save yourself the moral conflict and turn up the lights. Really. It could help bring out the best in you. Or do your taxes in the brightness of daylight because it will help make you a more honest tax-filer. That's what a recent study reported in Psychological Science suggests. Sure we all know that a sunny day makes us feel better, but who knew the glow of sunshine could make us behave better? Well, a group of researchers put that question to task when they studied how honestly people behave depending on the light conditions. Their findings? Darkness brings out the worst in people.

Volunteers in a dimly-lit room asked to do a task were more likely to over report their scores and cheat in order to earn more reward money. Even the group wearing dark glasses acted more selfishly than those wearing clear glasses. The researchers Chen-Bo Zhong, Vanessa K. Bohns, and Francesca Gino from the University of Toronto and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill believe it's not so much that the darkness actually cloaks them, but they feel anonymous, and therefore, as if they can get away with deceitful behavior.

"Sunlight is the best disinfectant" is a well-known quote from the late US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. Less well known was the rest of his sentiment, which was, "Electric light the most efficient policeman."

And perhaps tax auditor, too.

Photo by Madden via from Wikimedia Commons.