Categories for Acceptability of Lies

Summary A total of 311 Ss in three studies responded to alternate forms of questionnaires in which evaluations were made of the reprehensibility of various types of lies. The Ss in Study 1 rated a variety of lies suggested in the ethical philosophy literature. From the results, six categories of lies were inferred. These categories were validated on two separate forms in Study 2 by having Ss rate the permissibility of lies described in vignettes which were created to operationalize the categories. The results on both forms were consistent with the predictions. In Study 3 Ss rated the category statements in the abstract—i.e., the E's definitions of the categories—precisely as predicted.