Researchers recruited 816 mayors in Spain to complete a survey and asked the mayors whether they wished to receive a personalized report of the results; at the end of the survey, the mayors were told that they would receive the report only if they obtained heads in a self-reported coin flip, and even though approximately 50% of the mayors should have received heads statistically, nearly 68% of mayors reported receiving heads, according to the authors.
Article #20-08144: "Eliciting preferences for truth-telling in a survey of politicians," by Katharina A. Janezic and Aina Gallego.
MEDIA CONTACT: Aina Gallego, Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals, SPAIN; tel: 0034 677580024, (+34) 93 542 3036; email: agallego@ibei.org
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences