Psychopath
The research by Mazar, Amir & Ariely (2008) shows that ordinary people often find ways they can cheat and still believe themselves to be honest. People do this by rationalizing their actions, and preserving a self-concept of honesty and integrity. Most people are willing to stretch or manipulate their moral codes under certain circumstances, particularly when they can find ways of maintaining a self-concept or project the image of being honest.
A psychopath would be theoretically less concerned with self-concept or reputation than the ordinary person. Like anyone else, psychopaths will be driven to "minimize risk to themselves," and ensure they do not get caught (Grohol, n.d.). The ordinary people in the Mazar, Amir & Ariely (2008) study likewise do not want to get caught. The psychopath might be more inclined to cheat for the sake of cheating, more often than the ordinary person who cheats primarily for things like financial gain or in competitive scenarios (Mazar, Amir & Ariely, 2008).
If Mazar, Amir & Ariely (2008) were to redesign their cheating studies so that the experimental group were clinically diagnosed psychopaths, versus a control group of persons with no mental illness diagnosis, the results of the studies might be different. In particular, the psychopaths would tend to respond less robustly to attempted controls such as the use of religion as a motivator (Experiment 1), through honesty and commitment reminders (Experiment 2), or any experiment that directly hinges on self-concept. One exception may arise if the researchers...
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