Support our non-partisan non-profit newsroom 💜 Donate now
Mid-day Update

Mid-day Extra: Are cheaters more creative?

Jeremy Hobson Nov 30, 2011

So we’re all taught from a young age that cheating is wrong. And in school, and in the workplace, creativity is considered a good thing — and it’s rewarded. But according to a new study, creative people are also more likely to cheat.

In today’s Mid-day Extra, we ask: can creativity cause harm in the workplace?

Francesca Gino worked on the study, and she’s a professor at Harvard Business School. She joins us from Cambridge, Mass. to explain why inspired the idea.

According to her, the research was in part inspired by media coverage of famous cheaters like Bernie Madoff, and how they were often described as “evil geniuses.” It turns out, even controlling for intelligence, people that are more creative are more likely to cheat… or, in her words, be “morally flexible.”

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.