Toxic workplace
Bègue emphasises that this research needs to be replicated before we can draw general conclusions about human nature, but it is interesting to speculate whether traits like high self-control could predict someone’s involvement in many everyday acts of immorality – large and small.
It would all depend on the strength of the social norms, says Lane. “I do think these results could generalise to other behaviours if people could convince themselves they were victimless crimes that others already do,” says Lane. There is some evidence, for instance, that tax avoidance increases with conscientiousness – which would fit these findings. In the workplace, meanwhile, the model employees may also be the people who steal from the company “under the perception ‘they won’t even miss that money’,” says Lane.
Uziel, meanwhile, suspects that someone with high self-control is more likely to act ruthlessly when group cohesion starts to fall apart, including times when their own sense of power or authority is threatened, or when they feel in competition with others. They could proverbially stab you in the back to gain a new promotion, for instance – or kowtow to a boss while disregarding how their behaviour will affect others.
If so, we might start to appreciate the people around us who are a little bit less disciplined and agreeable than the rest. They may frustrate us with their unreliability, but in La Zone Xtrême, at least, they are the ones you would want to decide your fate.
David Robson is the author of The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things (WW Norton/Hodder & Stoughton), which examines the cutting-edge psychology of irrational thinking and the best ways to make wiser decisions. He is @d_a_robson on Twitter.
