Mindfulness Makes People More Honest - The Test of the TLCG Card Game

Before reading this research, I had never considered that mindfulness meditation could influence a person’s moral decisions and behaviors. This study is truly precious because it focuses on the issue of people lying for personal gain. Let us dive into today’s article: Training the Moral Self: An 8-Week Mindfulness Meditation Program Leads to Reduced Dishonest Behavior and Increased Regulation of Interoceptive Awareness, by Feruglio et al., 2023.

This study uses a game called The Temptation to Lie Card Game (TLCG), which is an insightful and engaging game that gives players the opportunity to explore moral decisions and ethical challenges faced in daily life. By encouraging players to choose between honesty and lying in various scenarios, the game provides a safe and structured environment to reflect on one’s tendencies toward deception, while also allowing players to consider the broader consequences of their actions.

The scenarios in the game are designed to reflect real-life situations. For example:

You are at a job interview and are asked if you have experience with a specific software, which you do not. The interviewer seems impressed with your resume and is clearly interested in your candidacy. Do you lie and claim proficiency in the software to improve your chances of getting the job, knowing that you may face consequences if caught? Or do you stay honest, potentially jeopardizing your chances but preserving your integrity?

Your friends are planning a surprise party for someone, but you know the person hates surprises. They are excited about creating a memorable celebration, and you don't want to disappoint them. Do you tell them the truth about the party, risking ruining their plans and possibly hurting their feelings? Or do you keep it a secret, knowing that the person may be upset or offended by the surprise?

You witness a coworker stealing office supplies. You know that this is wrong and could get them into trouble. You also know that reporting it could create tension at work and potentially damage your relationship with the coworker. Do you report them to the manager, standing by your sense of justice but possibly creating conflict? Or do you stay silent, compromising your ethics but avoiding confrontation?

The core of TLCG is to make players think about the consequences of honesty versus lying, encouraging them to weigh the potential benefits of lying (such as personal gain or avoiding embarrassment) against the risks of being caught or facing moral consequences. The game touches on the various psychological and social drivers behind our decisions—like the pursuit of success, peer influence, or fear of conflict—helping players understand why we sometimes act against moral standards.

What is especially intriguing about TLCG is that it forces players to reflect on their values, ethics, and beliefs. It offers a chance to challenge personal biases, encourages deeper self-awareness, and helps players understand how they make decisions, especially when faced with tempting opportunities to lie.

Overall, TLCG is not just a game; it is an extensive dialogue on ethics and morality, fostering critical thinking and encouraging self-reflection. It allows for rich discussions on honesty, deception, and the complexity of human behavior while providing valuable insights into why we make certain choices.

The participants in this project were 68 Italian university students (14 male, aged 20–53) randomly assigned to an 8-week mindfulness meditation program (experimental group, n=43) or a control group (n=25).

The mindfulness training was an online program, similar to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), combining instructional content, guided meditation (breathing awareness, body scanning, open awareness), and group discussions. Participants were asked to practice daily at home.

Both groups faced the TLCG challenge throughout the training and completed questionnaires assessing the following:

• Mindfulness: Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ)

• Emotion Regulation: Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)

• Interoceptive Awareness: Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA-2)

• Moral Identity: Moral Identity Scale (MIS)

The results found that participants who completed the 8-week mindfulness meditation program showed a significant reduction in their tendency to lie for self-interest by the end of the training. Particularly, participants who underwent mindfulness training were less likely to lie to alter outcomes for personal gain, especially when they anticipated losing.

In contrast, the control group, which did not undergo mindfulness practice, showed no change in their tendency to lie.

After analyzing the questionnaires, the researchers concluded that the main reasons for the reduction in self-serving lies among the mindfulness-trained participants included the following:

Increased Self-Regulation: Mindfulness meditation helps improve self-regulation, so the 8 weeks of training likely enhanced participants' ability to resist the temptation to lie when faced with unfavorable outcomes. Studies show that mindfulness practitioners’ increased self-control may lead them to accept unfavorable outcomes rather than trying to change them through dishonesty. This aligns with previous research showing that mindfulness training improves self-control.

Reduced Reactivity to Rewards: Mindfulness training has been shown to reduce people’s reactivity to rewards, helping to resist the chase for rewards like “winning.” The attraction of monetary gain was reduced for the mindfulness-trained group, leading them to lie less in order to increase their financial payoff.

Interoceptive Awareness and Attention Regulation: The study highlights the key role of interoceptive awareness and attention regulation in reducing dishonest behavior.

• Enhanced Attention to Bodily Signals: Mindfulness training improves participants' ability to direct and control their attention toward bodily sensations. This was reflected in the experimental group's higher scores on the MAIA-2 subscales, particularly in self-regulation, attention regulation, and body listening.

• Moderating Effect: The amount of mindfulness practice only predicted moral behavior change in those participants who scored highest on attention regulation, as measured by the MAIA-2. This suggests that the combination of mindfulness training and the ability to regulate interoceptive attention is key to reducing self-serving lies.

Increased Acceptance of Unfavorable Outcomes: The reduction in self-gain lies was particularly observed when faced with unfavorable outcomes. This suggests that mindfulness practitioners were more likely to accept negative results rather than trying to alter them through deceit. This could be linked to the improved self-regulation and reduced reward reactivity mentioned earlier.

From a young age, we have heard a simple yet profound Chinese saying: "Do not do evil, even if it is small; do good, even if it is small." Indeed, in our daily lives, we are often confronted with situations that test our honesty, and in these moments, the temptation to lie for personal gain can feel irresistible. Whether exaggerating proficiency in a software during an interview, keeping a surprise party secret, or covering up a colleague’s mistake, these seemingly trivial lies accumulate over time and subtly shape our behavior. But what if there were a way to change this tendency? What if meditation could offer us a new approach to help us stay honest?

Meditation encourages us to slow down, observe our thoughts, and become more attuned to our inner experiences. By cultivating this awareness, we can learn to identify the subtle impulses that lead us to lie, particularly when we stand to gain personally. Meditation helps us pause in the face of desire, reflect, and make more conscious, deliberate choices that align with our values, rather than simply following the impulses of the moment.

In moments of pressure, when we are tempted to lie for personal gain, meditation provides a space for us to acknowledge our fears, anxieties, or desires without impulsively acting on them. As we become more aware of our inner states, such as the nervousness of an interview or the discomfort of an awkward conversation, we also develop the ability to regulate our reactions. This self-regulation diminishes the attraction of lying because we gradually realize that staying true to ourselves is more fulfilling than any short-term benefit gained from dishonesty.

The study by Feruglio et al. (2023) shows that individuals who undergo meditation training significantly reduce their tendency to lie for self-gain when faced with unfavorable outcomes. This indicates that meditation not only enhances our awareness of bodily signals but also strengthens our ability to act in alignment with our moral principles when tempted by self-interest.

Ultimately, meditation not only helps us manage stress or improve focus; it has the potential to change how we respond to ethical dilemmas in daily life. By fostering greater self-awareness, meditation enables us to choose honesty over deception, integrity over selfishness, and long-term well-being over short-term gains when faced with temptation. Through continuous practice, meditation can gradually and steadily change the way we make decisions, helping us become more authentic, compassionate, and morally grounded individuals in all aspects of our lives.