The effects of winning experience and gain/loss frames on lying decisions

A lab experiment

Bibliographic Data

ID7472115
AuthorsFang Liu (0000-0002-7132-354X, Division of Economics, School of Social Sciences Nanyang Technological University Singapore, corresponding author), Yohanes E Riyanto (0000-0001-7343-4043, Division of Economics, School of Social Sciences Nanyang Technological University Singapore)
Year2026
Volume75
Issue1
Publication date2026-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueApplied Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0269-994X • E-ISSN: 1464-0597
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/apps.70054
OpenAlexW7117317738
LanguageEN
References cited31

Using a laboratory experiment, we examine lying behavior among subjects, both with and without winning experience, in loss and gain frames. Our findings reveal that winning experience results in increased lying behavior in the loss frame but decreased lying behavior in the gain frame. A key factor in understanding this outcome is the subject's sense of deservingness. Winning a competition heightens subjects' feelings of deservingness, influencing the subjects' lying decisions. Additionally, we found that winners are more likely to cheat in the loss frame than in the gain frame; no similar effect was observed among subjects without winning experience

Competition (biology · Feeling · Frame (networking · Lying · Outcome (game theory · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies

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