Does Needing the Toilet Make you More Honest?

Public Toilet Signs

Will the desire to use the toilet make people more truthful? A recent study seems to think so.

While it may not be a groundbreaking discovery process, a recent study appears to have cracked the secret behind how to make people more honest.

Although it may not be what most expect, a stunning survey recently uncovered that keeping people from using the toilet is an effective way of keeping them honest.

The survey reached this conclusion by quizzing 200 men and women entering and leaving a public toilet.

According to the report, each person was asked how badly they wanted to use the toilet before they were then asked to complete a dice test that measured lying and cheating.

The same test was conducted with people who exited the loo to determine their truthfulness. However, after completion, the test indicated people leaving the loo cheated by 12% more than those who were in a rush to use the toilet.

Due to the discovery, a suggestion was raised in support of banning trips to the loo during exams because it would prevent more people from cheating.

Meanwhile, a similar study by scientists disclosed that keeping people waiting for the bathroom before finalizing a business deal is a perfect business practice. Some experts also believe self-control required by those with a full bladder to hold their pee reduces their impulse to lie.

Speaking about this phenomenon, Prof Gideon Yaniv from Tel-Hai College in Israel noted that people need to utilize self-control to stop themselves from benefiting from dishonesty. He said:

“When you restrain your urge to go to the bathroom, your self-control efforts spill over to other behaviours you’re engaged in. Restraining the urge to urinate helps restrain ­dishonest behaviour when cheating opportunities arise at the same time.”

While humans are unpredictable and complicated creatures, this study seems to have partly solved a bit of that complexity. If not, it has given the loo another important function: the “truth-discovering machine.”

One thought on “Does Needing the Toilet Make you More Honest?

  1. Very interesting! I don’t agree with banning trips to the bathroom during exams. There are people that won’t be able to hold it and need to go. It’s not fair to them to do this. But in business deals, this could and should be employed I think.

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