COMMENT | How much money is enough to make you lie? Not much.

Famous behavioural scientist, Dan Ariely, specialises in the study of worst human behaviours. He believes that given a chance, most humans would act worse than what you had imagined.

Put a person inside a room with a researcher. Ask him to roll a dice and inform him that whatever number appears at the top of the die is what he will be compensated in money. The more he rolls, the more money he gets.

But after he rolls, ask him if he would like to cheat and choose another number instead. If he keeps rolling “1”, ask him if he would like to pick “6” instead to receive more money.

Almost everyone would cheat and pick the highest number.

Add another twist. Before you ask them to roll a dice, reward them even more. Flip a coin and tell them that they either would receive $4 or $40 extra depending on heads or tails. If he gets $4, tell him that you are open to receiving $3 in bribes because the boss is not here; in return, he will be receiving the $40 prize. Once again, almost everyone (84 percent) went with the bribe.

That is not the most surprising thing. When compared, the people who had cheated once in the flip-a-coin test were also more likely to cheat in the roll-a-dice test.

The ones who first cheated on the flip-a-coin test were also more likely to steal again and again. When they are about to leave, the cheaters of the flip-a-coin test would inflate their winnings and collect more than they have earned...