If you cheat, does that make you more liable to work for the government? A recent study in India says yes.
The study, conducted by Harvard and University of Pennsylvania researchers, tested 662 college students in Bangalore. These students were asked to roll dice 42 times and report their results. The higher the numbers rolled, the more money the participant received. Researchers found that those who cheated (about a third) were 6.3 percent more likely to report that they were looking for a government job.
It wasn’t the only test. Another asked students to divide up money between themselves and a charity — with an incentive to give more to charity. In that test, too, those who wanted to work for the government kept more of the money for themselves.
India, of course, has long been notorious for government corruption. But New York is no slouch either. State officials being led out of their offices in handcuffs has Âbecome a routine photograph on our news pages.
So while we can’t vouch for the science of these studies, if true they sure would help explain why so many sleazy people find New York politics so inviting.