Honest People Tend to Use Less—Not More—Profanity: Comment on Feldman et al.’s (2017) Study 1
© The Author(s) 2017. This article shows that the conclusion of Feldman et al.’s (2017) Study 1 that profane individuals tend to be honest is most likely incorrect. We argue that Feldman et al.’s conclusion is based on a commonly held but erroneous assumption that higher scores on Impression Managem...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/76541 |
| _version_ | 1848763712657162240 |
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| author | de Vries, R.E. Hilbig, B.E. Zettler, I. Dunlop, Patrick Holtrop, Djurre Lee, K. Ashton, M.C. |
| author_facet | de Vries, R.E. Hilbig, B.E. Zettler, I. Dunlop, Patrick Holtrop, Djurre Lee, K. Ashton, M.C. |
| author_sort | de Vries, R.E. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © The Author(s) 2017. This article shows that the conclusion of Feldman et al.’s (2017) Study 1 that profane individuals tend to be honest is most likely incorrect. We argue that Feldman et al.’s conclusion is based on a commonly held but erroneous assumption that higher scores on Impression Management Scales, such as the Lie Scale, are associated with trait dishonesty. Based on evidence from studies that have investigated (1) self-other agreement on Impression Management Scales, (2) the relation of Impression Management Scales with personality variables, and (3) the relation of Impression Management Scales with objective measures of cheating, we show that high scores on Impression Management Scales are associated with high—instead of low—trait honesty when measured in low-stakes conditions. Furthermore, using two data sets that included an “I never swear” item, we show that profanity use is negatively related to other reports of HEXACO honesty-humility and positively related to actual cheating. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:07:49Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-76541 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:07:49Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-765412019-10-17T04:06:33Z Honest People Tend to Use Less—Not More—Profanity: Comment on Feldman et al.’s (2017) Study 1 de Vries, R.E. Hilbig, B.E. Zettler, I. Dunlop, Patrick Holtrop, Djurre Lee, K. Ashton, M.C. © The Author(s) 2017. This article shows that the conclusion of Feldman et al.’s (2017) Study 1 that profane individuals tend to be honest is most likely incorrect. We argue that Feldman et al.’s conclusion is based on a commonly held but erroneous assumption that higher scores on Impression Management Scales, such as the Lie Scale, are associated with trait dishonesty. Based on evidence from studies that have investigated (1) self-other agreement on Impression Management Scales, (2) the relation of Impression Management Scales with personality variables, and (3) the relation of Impression Management Scales with objective measures of cheating, we show that high scores on Impression Management Scales are associated with high—instead of low—trait honesty when measured in low-stakes conditions. Furthermore, using two data sets that included an “I never swear” item, we show that profanity use is negatively related to other reports of HEXACO honesty-humility and positively related to actual cheating. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/76541 10.1177/1948550617714586 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ fulltext |
| spellingShingle | de Vries, R.E. Hilbig, B.E. Zettler, I. Dunlop, Patrick Holtrop, Djurre Lee, K. Ashton, M.C. Honest People Tend to Use Less—Not More—Profanity: Comment on Feldman et al.’s (2017) Study 1 |
| title | Honest People Tend to Use Less—Not More—Profanity: Comment on Feldman et al.’s (2017) Study 1 |
| title_full | Honest People Tend to Use Less—Not More—Profanity: Comment on Feldman et al.’s (2017) Study 1 |
| title_fullStr | Honest People Tend to Use Less—Not More—Profanity: Comment on Feldman et al.’s (2017) Study 1 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Honest People Tend to Use Less—Not More—Profanity: Comment on Feldman et al.’s (2017) Study 1 |
| title_short | Honest People Tend to Use Less—Not More—Profanity: Comment on Feldman et al.’s (2017) Study 1 |
| title_sort | honest people tend to use less—not more—profanity: comment on feldman et al.’s (2017) study 1 |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/76541 |