The Effect Of Awe On Dishonest Behavior: The Mediat Ing Role Of The Sense Of Power

Honesty behavior is an important branch of moral research and an indispensable moral indicator in a harmonious society.In China’s education system,honesty behavior is exported from kindergarten to university,and plays an important role in personal development and social progress.There are many factors that affect people’s dishonest behavior,among which awe,as a positive emotion,can inhibit people’s immoral behavior,and individuals with high sense of power are more likely to engage in dishonest behavior.On the basis of previous studies,this paper will further explore the relationship between awe,power and dishonesty.Questionnaire method and experimental method are mainly used to carry out two studies.The first study included two parts,study 1a and study 1b,to investigate the effects of state awe and power on dishonesty.In study 1a,the influence of state awe on dishonest behavior was investigated.A single-factor interparticipant design was adopted,using questionnaire method and experimental method.The independent variable was different emotional state(social situation induced awe or not induced awe),and the dependent variable was dishonest behavior.The results showed that there was a significant difference in the scores of dishonest behaviors between the awe induced group and the non-awe induced group(t=-2.78,P<0.01),which showed that the unawe induced group had more dishonest behaviors than the awe induced group.In Study 1b,the impact of Sense of Power on dishonest behavior was surveyed by a singlefactor interparticipant design,using questionnaire and experimental methods.The independent variable was different levels of perceived power(high perceived power,low perceived power),and the dependent variable was dishonest behavior.The subjects were 60 college students selected from a university.The results showed that there were obvious differences in the scores of dishonest behaviors between the two groups(t=15.37,P<0.01),which showed that the individuals with high sense of power had more dishonest behaviors than those with low sense of power.The second study examined the role of power perception in the relationship between state awe and dishonesty.Questionnaire method and experimental method were used.The experimental design was a two-factor interparticipant design,awe and sense of power were interparticipant variables,dependent variables were individual dishonesty behavior in the test,and 60 students were selected from a university.The results show that the influence of state awe on dishonest behavior is not only direct,but also indirect through the sense of power.In other words,the sense of power plays a mediating role in the influence of awe on dishonest behavior,and the mediating effect is 30%.The conclusions of this study are as follows :(1)awe can significantly negatively predict dishonest behavior of individuals.(2)Awe can significantly negatively predict dishonest behaviors of individuals through the mediating effect of the sense of power.