Description:
In this paper, I compare two ways cheating behavior can be elicited in online experiments. I present data from two online experiments, one in which participants’ random draw took place directly on their screens (Observed-Cheating Game) and another in which participants picked a color in their minds and then randomly drew a color from ten boxes with question marks presented on their screens (Mind-Cheating Game). The paper shows that observed games online are more likely to have non-significant treatment differences because the effect of observability is particularly strong. I show that using mind games to generate random draws in online settings solves the most prominent issues for eliciting lying, as it keeps the lies unidentifiable at the individual level. The MIND-CHEATING GAME used in the experiment is inspired by previous mind games and is specially adapted to be easily run on online experiments or field experiments