This research presents a nudge-based approach to promoting honest behavior. Specifically, we introduce the moral barrier hypothesis, which posits that moral violations can be inhibited by the introduction of spatial boundaries, including ones that do not physically impede the act of transgressing. We found that, as compared to a no barrier condition, children cheated significantly less often when a barrier was strategically placed to divide the space where children were seated from a place that was associated with cheating. This effect was seen both when the barrier took a physical form and when it was purely symbolic. However, the mere presence of a barrier did not reduce cheating: if it failed to separate children from a space that was associated with cheating, children cheated as much as when there was no barrier at all. Taken together, these findings support the moral barrier hypothesis and show that even seemingly unremarkable features of children’s environments can nudge them to act honestly.

这项研究提出了一种基于轻推的方法来促进诚实的行为。具体而言，我们介绍了道德障碍假说，该假说假定可以通过引入空间边界来抑制道德违规行为，包括不实际阻碍越轨行为的空间边界。我们发现，与无障碍条件相比，当策略性地放置障碍物以将儿童所坐的空间从与作弊相关的位置分开时，儿童的作弊频率显着降低。当障碍物采用物理形式或纯粹是象征性的时，都可以看到这种效果。但是，仅存在障碍并不能减少作弊：如果它无法将孩子从与作弊相关的空间中分离出来，那么孩子被骗的程度与根本没有障碍的情况一样。在一起