Strategies to mitigate dishonesty have met with limited success, leading behavioral ethics scholars to call for a deeper understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying dishonesty. In this article, I introduce a conceptual framework, DENIAL, that identifies four fundamental mechanisms, or justifications, which provide people a rationale to consider themselves as ethical while acting unethically. I derive these justifications from a review of scholarship within cognate fields, drawing on Moral Disengagement Theory and Neutralization Theory. I identify the victim (they Deserve it), the situation (I blame my Environment), the harm (I cause No Injury), and the social relationship (I have other ALlegiances) as fundamental justifications for dishonesty. I discuss how future mitigation strategies might harness these justifications to improve their efficacy.

减轻不诚实行为的策略收效甚微，导致行为伦理学学者呼吁更深入地了解不诚实背后的心理机制。在这篇文章中，我介绍了一个概念框架 DENIAL，它确定了四种基本机制或理由，这些机制为人们提供了一个理由，让他们在不道德行为时认为自己是道德的。我从对同源领域学术研究的回顾中得出这些理由，借鉴了道德脱离理论和中和理论。我确定受害者（他们活该）、情况（我责怪我的环境）、伤害（我没有造成伤害）和社会关系（我有其他ALlegiances）作为不诚实的基本理由。我将讨论未来的缓解策略如何利用这些理由来提高其功效。