Research on the relation between creativity and unethical behavior has provided inconclusive findings, thus far. Herein, we focus on a mechanism that has been suggested as underlying a positive relation between these constructs: an increased ability to generate unethical justifications (i.e., reasons for behaving unethically) of those with high levels of creativity. Specifically, we test if creativity is more strongly related to the generation of unethical than ethical justifications. In a vignette experiment (N = 907, N = 20,719 rated answers), we find that creativity is equally related to the quality and quantity of both ethical and unethical justifications. Additionally, Honesty-Humility from the HEXACO Model of Personality is positively related to the quality of ethical, and negatively related to the quality and quantity of unethical justifications.

迄今为止，关于创造力与不道德行为之间关系的研究尚未得出结论。在这里，我们关注于一种被认为是在这些构架之间建立正向关系的机制：提高创造力高的人产生不道德理由（即行为不道德的原因）的能力。具体而言，我们测试了创造力是否与不道德理由比道德理由更紧密地相关。在小插图实验中（N  = 907，N = 20,719个评级答案），我们发现创造力与道德和不道德辩护的质量和数量均相关。此外，HEXACO人格模型中的诚实与谦卑与道德素质正相关，与不道德辩护的质与量负相关。