Cost of Cheating and Lying
While we have identified the extent of harm as one of the three key ingredient is the identification of cheating and lying behavior and in the assessment of their magnitude, it is important to look more carefully into the nature of this harm. We need to say something about the “cost” of cheating and purposeful lying. Furthermore, we need to identify not only the physical or financial costs, but also the psychological costs (which are often the most damaging).
Financial costs are often reported –and can be quite dramatic. It is estimated that One Trillion dollars are not collective each year by the US Internal Revenue Service. Comparable financial numbers are available and reported at the state and local community level. There are also the costs associated with trying to prevent cheating on the reporting of taxes. And there are the financial contributions made to political campaigns both for expansion of and reduction of IRS review (as well as regarding the extensive regulations that govern the nature of and punishments to be meted out regarding cheating on tax reports).
What about physical costs? There is the reported violence associated with the occurrence of cheating and purposeful lying. The teenage son is slapped by his mother when he has lied once again about his whereabouts during the previous evening. The irate spouse takes out her revenge by taking a bat to her cheating husband’s head. Urban streets are saturated with violence associated with one drug lord cheating another drug lord. This violence makes for tantalizing news and captivating cop shows—but also produces a rate of homicide among the innocent as well as guilty that is repugnant.
This leaves us with the psychological costs. The person who has cheated might feel guilt—or at least anxious about being found out and punished. We know that guilt and anxiety tend to drain energy and distract us from tasks that need to be completed and relationships that need to be nourished. As we have already noted, there is also the need for adjustments in the system (family, organization, community) in which the cheating and purposeful lying has taken place. This adjustment requires not just determining the appropriate acknowledgement of the cheating and lying, but also the determination of appropriate punishment (if any) and the potentially shifting relationship with the cheater/liar.
We move even deeper into psychology as we consider the magnitude of cost. How guilty does the cheater feel? Does the liar become “numb” to the consequences of their behavior? Do they become habitual cheaters and liars. Do these people simply no longer acknowledge their cheating and the harm their lying produces. There is also the matter of side-effects. How much energy does it take to preserve the lie? What is the cheater sacrificing in terms of attention on behalf of the cheat? How big of an impact is the cheating and purposeful lying having on the “system” and how much adjustment has to be done?
We can ask the same questions of those who are “victims” of the cheating—whether or not they might actually be fully aware of the cheating. How guilty does the victim want the cheater to feel? And does the victim assume any of the guilt themselves: “what did I do to provoke the cheating?” Does the victim of perpetual lying become “numb” to the consequences of the liar’s behavior? Is this latest cheat just one more of many? In an organizational setting, does the cheat become “just the way business is being done.” Does everyone in the organization lie and cheat? Do we finally have to admit that the leaders of this company embrace a “cheating environment”?
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