“The banking industry seems to bring out dishonesty in people, a new study suggests.
A team of Swiss economists tested the honesty of bank employees in a lab game that would pay off in cash if they cheated. When workers at an unnamed bank were asked about their home life, they were about as honest as the general public. But employees who had just been asked about work at the bank cheated 16 percent more.
“Bank employees are not more dishonest than others,” said Ernst Fehr of the University of Zurich, author of the study published Wednesday by the journal Nature. But he said when reminded of their job they become more dishonest, so something about the culture of banking “seems to make them more dishonest.”
The American Bankers Association dismissed the study: “While this study looks at one bank, America’s 6,000 banks set a very high bar when it comes to the honesty and integrity of their employees. Banks take the fiduciary responsibility they have for their customers very seriously.”
Researchers studied 128 employees at a single bank (even the country where it is located was not revealed).”* The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola (TYT University) break it down.
*Read more here:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/study-banking-industry-culture-fosters-cheating-27028510