So says surprising new research, reported here:
'But there is an extremely simple way to curb dishonesty dramatically — just remind people to not be dishonest. All you have to do is show people some kind of reminder of a moral code, and the urge to lie dissipates. In one experiment Ariely describes, researchers asked 500 students at UCLA to try to jot down as many of the Ten Commandments that they could remember. After that, they took part in the matrix experiment. None of them recalled all the commandments, and yet none of them cheated, Ariely said. This was true regardless of whether the students were religious or not. Simply reminding them that Thou shall not lie has a weirdly powerful effect.
'The study was replicated at MIT, but without the religious context: Students were asked to read MIT’s “moral code” before the matrix task. Again, no one cheated, Ariely said — this, despite the fact that MIT doesn’t even have a moral code. “It is not about heaven and hell and being caught,” Ariely said. “It’s about reminding ourselves about our own moral fiber.”'
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Lutheran theology famously speaks of the law as a curb, a mirror and a guide (Riegel, Spiegel, Zuegel). It keeps society in check, shows us our failings when we see ourselves as we truly are, and directs those who are domesticated by it on their way. It is the first of these which is confirmed by the matrix experiment, and argues for the reintroduction of the Ten Commandments in American life.
