A 2016 paper by Israeli researchers reported a series of experiments, which claimed that winners of skill-based competitions are more likely to steal money in subsequent games of chance against different opponents, as opposed to losers or people who did not see themselves as winners or losers.
This highly-cited study of relatively small sample sizes proposed that competitive winning induces a sense of entitlement that encourages cheating.
But now, an expanded and enhanced study by researchers at the University of Leicester (UK) and the University of Southern California (USA), published today (Wednesday) in the journal Royal Society Open Science, has refuted the original findings.
The international team of researchers found that people with a strong sense of fairness cheat less – regardless of whether they had previously won or lost.
[...] "We were surprised by the findings in the 2016 study, and that's why we wanted to replicate it with substantial sample sizes. The original study's small samples do not have the statistical power to generate firm conclusions.
"We were amazed when it turned out that neither winning nor losing had any effect on cheating although a significant amount of cheating occurred. We have at least provided scientifically sound data that give a clear answer to the question."
Journal Reference:
Andrew M. Colman, Briony D. Pulford, Caren A. Frosch, et al., Does competitive winning increase subsequent cheating? [open], Royal Soc Open Sci, 2022. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.202197
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Opportunist on Tuesday August 09 2022, @05:04PM (14 children)
No matter the cost, no matter the price. I know such a guy who needs to win in, well, anything. It doesn't even matter if there is a prize to get, he needs to "win".
People like that are very easy to manipulate.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday August 09 2022, @05:31PM (11 children)
Prizes matter a whole lot. If there aren't any, most players will be pretty sporting and honest. There may be a few disruptive sorts who want to spend their sorry little selves on spoiling the fun, but they never last long. The savvy cheater isn't going to risk exposure for nothing. One of the most common is the sandbagger. Sandbagging doesn't work if you insist on trying to always win.
If there's big money, watch out. In addition to providing the motive for the sandbaggers to show they're a lot better than they had lead everyone to believe, huge prizes attract the hustlers and shysters who will try every dirty trick they can think of, to "win".
(Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday August 09 2022, @05:45PM (10 children)
Perhaps. That said I do know people that cheat at boardgames where the only winning reward is having fun while playing. Doesn't stop them. Guess some people just like cheating, having an edge or somehow consider that not all rules apply to them.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday August 09 2022, @05:54PM (9 children)
I know people who cheat at RPGs. I mean, wtf, you're literally cheating yourself out of fun, that's really ALL you accomplish here.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Ingar on Tuesday August 09 2022, @06:38PM (7 children)
After a decade of Skyrim, I'm entitled to a bit of cheating.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 09 2022, @06:54PM
Why? Did you take an arrow to the knee?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday August 09 2022, @09:57PM (3 children)
"Cheating" in single player games, shouldn't be a "problem". In fact some games build in cheat codes or cheat modes. Sure, cheating in a multi-player MORPG, FPS, etc. is a problem. Especially since people make money playing games now. It used to be that playing games was purely for the joy of it. But, with serious tournaments and e-sports teams, that's changed quite a bit. Then, there's all the Twitch streamers, YouTube game channels, etc. As far as single player games are concerned, "cheating" is just the player enjoying the game their way. Which is exactly what games should be for, the player enjoying the game.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1) by aafcac on Tuesday August 09 2022, @10:25PM (2 children)
Same goes for having godlike powers at the end of Diablo II. I see no reason why the Necromancer couldn't be allowed to amass that amount of power in the single player game. It doesn't hurt anybody. And yet Blizzard decided that it was OK to nerf it, even though the game had been around for years before they finally pulled the trigger. In a multiplayer mode, I can see an issue with it, but in singleplayer, as long as it happens far enough into the game to not destroy it, I see no issue.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday August 10 2022, @01:22PM (1 child)
Highly likely that in such an old game, there was no division between singleplayer and multiplayer capabilities per se. Though, really, Diablo II wasn't a competitive multiplayer game. There was no need in nerfing it at all.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1) by aafcac on Wednesday August 10 2022, @02:16PM
Possibly, but it was many years after the original release that they did it. If multiplayer were the reasoning, that should have been done much, much quicker. I remember playing one of those overpowered builds, and I didn't even get the game until many years later. IIRC, it had been out for a decade or so at that point.
(Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Tuesday August 09 2022, @11:39PM
That's because Oblivion was so much better.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Friday August 12 2022, @09:16AM
I'm talking about P&P. I can see people cheating in computer games, even in both, single- and multiplayer. Either way, your "opponent" is a machine. In single player games, I even don't care about anyone cheating. It's not like it takes away anyone else's fun. Cheat all you like, maybe you're just after seeing all the cutscenes (though, why play at all, you can certainly get that on YouTube... but whatever).
In multiplayer, cheating is more of a problem because other people are affected, but I can at least understand the motivation.
In either case, be it single- or multiplayer, the key motivation of playing the game is to "win". Getting the ultimate weapon, seeing the end screen of the game, getting the title of being the best player. The key here is that the arbiter is a machine, an entity that will not have "mercy" and grant you anything for playing well (in the sense of playing your character well, or playing in a way that is pleasing to someone). The machine will reward you for purely mechanical superiority. Your reward is tied to your ability to be a mechanically superior player, be that because you "git gud" or because your cheat is better than the machine's algorithm.
In P&P, there is no mechanical superiority to have. If you GM wants you dead, you are. Because he's the GM. You face 100 Red Dragons. You are dead. Same the other way around, the GM wants you to have the superspecialawesome megasword of godslaying, you have it. The point is that you cannot "win" the game by cheating. Your victory is just as hollow as if the GM just hands you that sword.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday August 09 2022, @10:12PM
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday August 10 2022, @02:51AM (1 child)
The guy you know wouldn't happen to be an ex-president?
https://golf.com/lifestyle/celebrities/how-why-president-trump-cheats-golf-playing-tiger-woods/ [golf.com]
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Friday August 12 2022, @09:01AM
I don't associate with bigger assholes than me, I gotta be number 1!