Cheating and the effect of promises in Indian and German children

Cheating is harmful to others and society at large. Promises have been shown to increase honesty in children, but their effectiveness has not been compared between different cultural contexts. In a study (2019) with 7- to 12-year-olds (N = 406, 48% female, middle-class), voluntary promises reduced cheating in Indian, but not in German children. Children in both contexts cheated, but cheating rates were lower in Germany than in India. In both contexts, cheating decreased with age in the (no-promise) control condition and was unaffected by age in the promise condition. These findings suggest that there may exist a threshold beyond which cheating cannot be further reduced by promises. This opens new research avenues on how children navigate honesty and promise norms

Keeping them honest: Promises reduce cheating in adolescents

People frequently engage in dishonest behavior at a cost to others, and it is therefore beneficial to study interventions promoting honest behavior. We implemented a novel intervention that gave participants a choice to promise to be truthful or not to promise. To measure cheating behavior, we developed a novel variant of the mind game—the dice‐box game—as well as a child‐friendly sender–receiver game. Across three studies with adolescents aged 10 to 14 years (N = 640) from schools in India, we found that promises systematically lowered cheating rates compared with no‐promise control conditions. Adolescents who sent truthful messages in the sender–receiver game cheated less in the dice‐box game and promises reduced cheating in both tasks (Study 1). Promises in the dice‐box game remained effective when negative externalities (Study 2) or incentives for competition (Study 3) were added. A joint analysis of data from all three studies revealed demographic variables that influenced cheating. Our findings confirm that promises have a strong, binding effect on behavior and can be an effective intervention to reduce cheating

Urban environment as an independent predictor of insulin resistance in a South Asian population

Abstract Background Developing countries, such as India, are experiencing rapid urbanization, which may have a major impact on the environment: including worsening air and water quality, noise and the problems of waste disposal. We used health data from an ongoing cohort study based in southern India to examine the relationship between the urban environment and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Methods We utilized three metrics of urbanization: distance from urban center; population density in the India Census; and satellite-based land cover. Restricted to participants without diabetes (N = 6350); we built logistic regression models adjusted for traditional risk factors to test the association between urban environment and HOMA-IR. Results In adjusted models, residing within 0–20 km of the urban center was associated with an odds ratio for HOMA-IR of 1.79 (95% CI 1.39, 2.29) for females and 2.30 (95% CI 1.64, 3.22) for males compared to residing in the furthest 61–80 km distance group. Similar statistically significant results were identified using the other metrics. Conclusions We identified associations between urban environment and HOMA-IR in a cohort of adults. These associations were robust using various metrics of urbanization and adjustment for individual predictors. Our results are of public health concern due to the global movement of large numbers of people from rural to urban areas and the already large burden of diabetes

Demographic and health characteristics of PURSE-HIS cohort stratified by sex and community type as defined by census designation (n = 6166).

<p>Demographic and health characteristics of PURSE-HIS cohort stratified by sex and community type as defined by census designation (n = 6166).</p

Census designation and land cover classification for mean carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) by sex.

<p>Bars represent the standard deviation. For census designation, mean cfPWV is shown for urban/semi-urban and rural areas. For land cover classification, mean cfPWV is shown for urban areas, areas with grass/trees, and areas with crops. For all census and land cover comparisons, mean cfPWV is significantly (p < 0.05) higher in men than women. Mean cfPWV is significantly higher for men and women in urban areas than in rural areas as designated by the census or in areas with crops as designated by land cover. Mean cfPWV is also significantly higher for men in areas with grass/trees than in areas with crops.</p

PURSE-HIS participants, distance categories, and land cover type.

<p>Participant locations are shown as blue dots, the Chennai city center is shown as a green star, the Chennai boundary is shown with a solid black line, and distance from the Chennai city center is noted with dashed lines at 20 km, 40 km, 60 km, and 80 km from the city center.</p

Association between distance in kilometers from urban center and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (m/s).

<p>Association between distance in kilometers from urban center and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (m/s).</p