The Honesty-Attitude-Behavior Gap: A Cross-Country Comparison

Until now, however, honest attitudes and honest behavior have been studied largely in isolation. This study combines both dimensions in a cross-country comparison of 36 countries: honest attitudes are measured using an index based on data from the World Values Survey and the European Values Study, while honest behavior is measured using the international Lost Wallet field experiment by Cohn et al. (2019a). The difference between these two dimensions yields the honesty-attitude-behavior gap for each country – the gap between honest attitudes and honest behavior. On this basis, the relationship between honesty and trust is examined, before deriving implications for the economy and politics. The results show differences across countries in both honest attitudes and honest behavior. Furthermore, there is a clear honesty-attitude-behavior gap in both directions: in 17 countries, attitudes are more honest than behavior, whereas in 19 countries, the opposite is true. Germany ranks second out of 36 countries in honest attitudes, but only in the upper middle range when it comes to honest behavior – its behavior thus falls short of its attitudes. This gap is most pronounced in China, Turkey, and Peru. Moreover, linking the honesty and trust data points to a notable finding: what matters for trust is not so much honest attitudes, but honest behavior. For policymakers and companies, this implies that moral appeals alone are not enough. What is needed are credible institutions, clear rules and transparent processes that foster honest behavior and thereby strengthen trust and economic cooperation.