Self-Concept and Cheating in the Adding-to-10 Task

The Adding-to-10 Task is a social psychology method for studying cheating and self-concept maintenance. It examines how people may balance the wish to gain something with the need to see themselves as honest. The task is often used to explore marginal dishonesty, also called the “fudge factor.”

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People inherently want to reap the benefits of cheating, even if they view themselves as honest.

For example, a salesperson making a commission on every car they sell might be tempted to cheat, reporting that they sold more vehicles than they actually did. On one hand, they?ll consider the costs of this action: whether they?ll be caught an...