Can Teddy bears keep grown-ups honest?

A Harvard researcher says it's true, so why not give it a try?

Last week, a friend sent me an interesting study on the topic of teddy bears as they relate to personal honesty. The study was conducted not by an unknown source, but by an expert in ethics from Harvard University, Ms Sreedhari Desai, and her research partner, Ms Francesca Gino. The key finding in the research that jumped out at me was, "Adults behave better when teddy bears are in the room." Don't you think this is interesting?

Actually, in her research, she points not only to teddy bears, but also to "toys or something similar". In her thesis defence, she mentioned that, "In all our lab studies, we found that when subjects were near toys or engaged in activities like watching cartoons, the number of cheaters dropped almost 20 per cent." The experiment methodology was to have people play classic psychology games in which the subjects controlled how much money other people earned, and could earn more for themselves if they lied. Half the participants were either in a room with children's toys or engaged in children's activities. Across the board, those participants lied less and were more generous than the control subjects.

For me, this is a very challenging research idea. If this is true - or even just 80 per cent realistic - I think it is worth having a try, by placing some toys in your office. And not just in the meeting room, but in as many places as possible, unless you don't believe that honesty can improve your business. It would be even better if you can place many toys, tailored to your colleagues' demographic backgrounds, ages, genders, lifestyle, etc. The reason that you have to tailor the toys individually is that they should be related to individual experience. For example, I don't think teddy bears can do much for me.

Frankly, I believe that toys can effect people's emotions, but I'm not sure about their ethics. For example, a few years ago, I had a chance to appear on a cable television programme. I was very worried while driving to meet the programme moderator before the recording. But once I reached the studio, I felt a little relaxed because I found a soccer ball with the Barcelona team logo on it placed in the studio. So I started our conversation by talking about the soccer ball and everything went well. It is the effect of things we have good experiences of, or are familiar with, that can sometimes make us feel like talking with friends, but I still doubt whether this sort of thing can improve people's ethics. I understand that children are innocent, but that doesn't mean that children cannot lie. When I was young, I always woke up with the feeling that I didn't want to go to school, so I would try to be sick. That was a kind of lie, but we'd call it a "white lie". My question to the researchers is: If the result is valid, shouldn't people working in toy factories be more ethical than workers in other environments?

As the research is from Harvard, I should give it the benefit of the doubt. My idea is that we should

give it a go, as I consider this as paying less for more. And, if finally we get nothing, it hasn't cost us much. So don't be surprised if tomorrow you see a Doraemon, Batman or Tin Tin in your company meeting room. And it would be great if I could get your feedback after you launch the experiment in your office. Please write to me at jirat.sirichalermpong@sccc.co.th or send me a tweet at @akelexander.

Jirat Sirichalermpong is customer and marketing analysis manager at Siam City Cement.