The cliche 'honesty is the best policy' may only be applicable in some countries of the world, according to a recent study from the University of East Anglia (UEA). The researchers revealed that nowadays - with regards to economic growth - honesty is deemed of lesser importance.

In a study of 1500 volunteers from different countries inlcuding Argentina, Brazil, China, Denmark, Greece, India, Japan, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, the UK and the US, two separate tests were conducted.

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The first experiment includes a 'coin flip' tests where researchers ask participants to flip a coin and guess if it will land on 'heads' or 'tails'. They are aware that a reward of $3 (£2) or $5 (£3.50) will be given if they say it is a 'head'. If more than half of the country chose the 'head', then this is conclusive of untruthfulness according to the study.

Testing the same people, they were again asked to answer a set of questions still with a monetary prize on the bait for those who will get a perfect score. Volunteers were prohibited to browse the Internet, and before they could proceed to the next question, they have to tick a box to confirm that they answered on their own.

Researchers, however, intentionally made these questions difficult or nearly impossible to answer independently. Thus, coming up with a correct answer to at least one of the three questions raised is again an indication of dishonesty.

Results revealed that in the former test (coin flip test), the most dishonest citizens turned out to be from China, Japan, South Korea and India. Nevertheless, Asian countries "were not significantly more dishonest than others in the quiz," said the researchers. 

The study ascribes to the "cultural views specific to this type of test, such as attitude to gambling," they stated. "Differences in honesty were found between countries, but this did not necessarily correspond to what people expected."

In the coin flip test, Britons topped the most honest list, while Japan ranked first in the music quiz category. Countries with least or poorest scores were China and Turkey. "Surprisingly, people were more pessimistic about the honesty of people in their own country than of people in other countries. One explanation for this could be that people are more exposed to news stories about dishonesty taking place in their own country than others," the researchers said.

Dr David Hugh-Jones of the School of Economics of UEA said in a statement that "People's belief about the honesty of their fellow citizens, and those in other countries, may or may not be accurate, and these beliefs can affect how they interact."

Tagsbest countries, honesty, Turkey, Honesty test, lying, UK, honest people, stereotyping, China Turkey Dishonest Countries