Britons Own Up To Being
World's Most
Dishonest People
By Roger Dobson
The Independent - UK
8-1-4
- Britons are among the world's most dishonest people,
according to research that seems to undermine the country's long-held
reputation for fair play.
-
- British people are more likely to steal hotel towels
and make false insurance claims than any other nationality, says the
study, which puts us at the top of an international league for unethical
behaviour. Restaurants, shops and workplaces are also fair game for
dishonesty.
-
- The researchers, from the University of Manchester
Institute of Science and Technology, say that the persistent cheating is
costing industry millions.
-
- They quizzed consumers in Europe, America and the Far
East about their views on dishonest behaviour and discovered that
British consumers have the worst attitude of all. The idea of taking
towels from hotel bedrooms was particularly popular, and 40 per cent
said it was all right to change the price tags on shopping items.
-
- "The fact that half of Britons thought it OK to make a
false insurance claim represents a huge cost to the economy and a
challenge to that industry," says the report, published this week in the
Journal of Consumer Marketing. "Consumer tolerance of unethical actions
- up to and including outright theft - presents a depressing scenario,
especially in the UK."
-
- The researchers also found that, compared with other
religions, Christians were most likely to favour unethical
behaviour.
-
- Those questioned were given 11 scenarios and asked to
indicate the strength of their approval or disapproval. These included
drinking a can of drink in a supermarket and not buying it; reporting a
lost item as stolen to an insurance company to collect the money;
changing price tags in stores; using an employer's telephone to make
private calls; not saying anything when charged too little in a
restaurant; taking towels from hotels; and renting a double-bed hotel
room and using it for more than two people. The majority of British
consumers said it was OK to cheat in eight of the 11 scenarios.
-
- "We make great statements about our moral superiority
- especially compared with wicked, rapacious Americans," say the
researchers. "Yet, when it comes to basic ethics - making a clear
distinction between right and wrong - we fall well behind standards in
the USA."
-
- Worldwide, the most objectionable behaviour is
drinking a can in a supermarket without buying it. The most tolerable
behaviour is taking towels from hotels. In the UK, it is estimated that
up to 5 per cent of hotel towels go missing each year. And an online
poll showed that one in five hotel guests admit stealing or considering
stealing toiletries from the cleaning trolley.
-
- The study said nationality, age and religion were
significant predictors of how consumers viewed questionable behaviour,
but that gender made no difference.
-
- � 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
-
- http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=546773
|
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With
Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in
anarchy"
Groupe de communication Mulindwas
"avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans
l'anarchie"
|
