【Peoplearemorelikelytolieorcheatduringtheafternoonbecauseselfcontrolreducesduringtheday，accordingtoresearchers．Volunteerstakingpartintwoexperimentswheretheycouldbenefitbycheatingweremorelikelytodosoifthete】
Peoplearemorelikelytolieorcheatduringtheafternoonbecauseselfcontrol reducesduringtheday，accordingtoresearchers．
Volunteerstakingpartintwoexperimentswheretheycouldbenefitbycheatingweremorelikelytodosoiftheteststookplaceaftermidday，researchersfound．
Thefindingsbackuppreviousstudieswhichhaveshownthatourcapacityforself-controldeclinesduringtheday，duetotirednessandrepeatedlymakingdecisions．
PsychologistsfromHarvardUniversityfirstshowedagroupofvolunteersvariouspatternsofdotsonacomputerscreen，askingthemtodecidewhetherthereweremoredotsontheleftortherighthandside．
Insteadofbeingrewardedforgettingtheanswerright，theparticipantswerepaidbasedonwhichsidetheychose，earningtentimesasmuchforchoosingtherighthandsideastheleft．
Peoplewhoweretestedaftermiddayweresignificantlymorelikelytoselecttherighthandside，eveniftherewereclearlymoredotsontheleft，thanthosewhotookpartduringthemorning．
Inasecondtest，participantswereshownaseriesofwordfragments，suchas"-ral"and"e-c-"andaskedwhichwordstheyassociatedwiththem．
Inmorningexperiments，participantsweremorelikelytoformthewords"moral"and"ethical"whileduringtheafternoonthewords"coral"and"effects"weremostcommon．
Furthertestsconductedonlineshowedthatpeopleweremorelikelytosenddishonestmessagesorclaimtohavesolvedanunsolvableproblemintheafternoonthaninthemorning．
WritingthePsychologicalSciencejournal，theresearcherssaidthedifferencewasparticularlypronouncedinpeoplewithhigherethicalstandards，whoalwaysbehavedmorallyduringthemorningbutslippedduringtheafternoon．
Incontrast，thosewhowereableto"morallydisengage"，orbehaveunethicallywithoutfeelingguilty，tendedtocheatwhateverthetimeofday．
Dr．MaryamKouchaki，oneoftheleadauthors，said："Unfortunately，themosthonestpeople，suchasthoselesslikelytomorally disengage，maybethemostsusceptible（易受影响的）tothenegativeconsequencesassociatedwiththemorningmorality