Dishonesty evolved under natural selection among species. Whether or not individuals become dishonest for self-benefit when they experience distress by thinking about their own death is crucial and unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between death anxiety (i.e., individuals’ anxiety about their own death) and individuals’ tendencies to be dishonest, and whether individuals’ social dominance orientation (SDO) moderated the relationship between death anxiety and tendency for self-benefit dishonesty behaviors. Using two large-scale samples (Studies 1 and 3) and one undergraduate sample (Study 2), three studies (N = 3511) were conducted; all studies supported our hypothesis that death anxiety was positively associated with self-benefit dishonesty. Additionally, results showed that the relationship between death anxiety and tendency to be dishonest only occurred when individuals had a high SDO. These findings inform research on death anxiety by revealing its evolutionary functions regarding the promotion of resource-seeking behaviors (e.g., self-benefit dishonesty).

不诚实是在物种间的自然选择下演变而来的。当人们通过思考自己的死亡而遭受苦难时，他们是否会变得不诚实，这是至关重要且不清楚的。这项研究旨在调查死亡焦虑（即个人对自己死亡的焦虑）与个人不诚实倾向之间的关系，以及个人的社会主导倾向（SDO）是否缓和了死亡焦虑与自我倾向之间的关系。有益于不诚实行为。使用两个大规模样本（研究1和3）和一个本科样本（研究2），进行了三项研究（N = 3511）进行；所有研究均支持我们的假设，即死亡焦虑与自利不诚实正相关。此外，结果表明，只有在个人具有较高的SDO时，才会发生死亡焦虑与不诚实倾向之间的关系。这些发现通过揭示其在促进寻求资源行为（例如，自利不诚实）方面的进化功能，为死亡焦虑研究提供了信息。