Yoon, K., K. Knight, and D. Martin. 2018. "Deceiving Team Members about Competence: Its Motives and Consequences." Western Journal of Communication: 1-22. doi:10.1080/10570314.2018.1470252

Article's Abstract

This study explores how people in work teams deceive others about their competence. A web-based survey with 182 college students reveals that deception about competence stems from three different motive types; Personal Gain, Personality Traits, and Extrinsic Factors; and that deception motivated by Personal Gain leads to more positive task outcomes than deception motivated by Personality Traits. People also showed a strong self-serving bias, evaluating their own deception more positively than others’. Our findings suggest that not all deception motives are perceived equally negatively.