The What the Hell Effect

Research into dishonesty suggests that once somebody has cheated once and gotten away with it, they'll start to cheat even more. Once participants realised they could get away with cheating without any chance of being caught, the amount of lies grew significantly. When we're lying, when we cheat, we also lie to ourselves. And the more praise we get for our lies, the more likely we are to continue lying. We all make up white lies to justify our decisions. A small white lie might feel worth it, especially if she eventually goes on to get the investment that does actually help her change the future of healthcare.