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Study finds that religious more likely to lie for financial gain. So THAT'S why I'm still poor!

Courtesy of Salon:

In an experiment where lying led directly to financial gain, just over 50 percent of the participants told an untruth. That figure is roughly consistent with previous research.

What’s new in this study by University of Regina economist Jason Childs is its breakdown of the personality traits of the liars. Unlike some previous research, he did not find men are more likely to lie than women.

However, he discovered other factors predicted a greater likelihood of telling an untruth—including the assertion that religion plays an important role in your life.

Somewhere (or not), Christopher Hitchens is chuckling.

Findings of the study were as follows:

Among those more likely to lie for financial gain were:

• Business majors. “It could be that these students are more prone to lying by nature or training,” Childs writes. “It could also be that individuals strongly motivated by financial returns, and therefore more likely to lie for a monetary payoff, are more likely to pursue an education in business.” (Previous research has found higher levels of academic cheating among business majors.)

• Students whose parents were divorced. This is in line with expectations, in thatpast research has found children of divorce are more likely to engage in anti-social behavior. Perhaps the belief they’ve been cheated out of a happy childhood may lead them to feel cheating is OK.

• Those for whom religion was more important to their lives. “This is surprising,” Childs writes, as most religions “promote honesty as a virtue. It may be that students for whom religion was important feel separate from other students at this largely secular university,” and thus feel less compelled to be honest with them.

You know part of me kind of wants to challenge these findings since I have never found that being religious or not, had any direct impact on a person's honesty. However I also have to admit that with the preponderance of churches now preaching prosperity theology it might very well have conditioned many religious folks to focus on the acquisition of money above all else.

Personally as an Atheist I don't need to feel more moral or honest than my religious counterparts, I just don't want to be considered less moral or honest simply due to my lack of belief.

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