How to Spot a Dishonest Person: The Role of Honesty-Humility in Personality

If you want to learn more about your personality traits, you might want to try the HEXACO Personality Inventory. This is a questionnaire that measures six dimensions of personality: Honesty-Humility (H), Emotionality (E), Extraversion (X), Agreeableness (A), Conscientiousness ( C ), and Openness to Experience (O). Each dimension has four facets that describe more specific aspects of your personality.

One of the most interesting dimensions of the HEXACO model is Honesty-Humility, which is not included in other popular personality models such as the Big Five. This dimension reflects how you relate to others in terms of sincerity, fairness, greed avoidance, and modesty. People who score high on this dimension are more likely to be honest, humble, and cooperative, while people who score low on this dimension are more likely to be dishonest, manipulative, and self-centered .

Why is this dimension important? Research has shown that Honesty-Humility is related to various outcomes such as ethical behavior, leadership effectiveness, interpersonal relationships, and well-being . For example, people who score low on Honesty-Humility are more likely to cheat, lie, or exploit others for their own benefit . They are also more likely to be narcissistic, Machiavellian, and psychopathic . On the other hand, people who score high on Honesty-Humility are more likely to be trustworthy, generous, and prosocial . They are also more likely to be altruistic and compassionate .

To illustrate these differences, let’s consider some hypothetical scenarios involving people with high or low H scores:

- Alice and Barbara are coworkers who have been assigned to work on a project together. Alice has a high H score and Barbara has a low H score. Alice is sincere and fair in her interactions with Barbara, and does not try to take credit for his work or undermine his reputation. Barbara, however, is dishonest and manipulative. She lies to Alice about her progress and tries to sabotage her work. She also flatters their boss and takes credit for Alice’s ideas.

- Carol and Dave are friends who have agreed to split the bill for a dinner at a restaurant. Carol has a low H score and Dave has a high H score. Carol orders the most expensive items on the menu and drinks several glasses of wine. Dave orders a modest meal and drinks water. When the bill arrives, Carol insists that they split it evenly. Dave agrees, even though he feels it is unfair. He does not want to cause a scene or hurt Carol’s feelings.

- Eve and Frank are strangers who meet at a charity event. Eve has a high H score and Frank has a low H score. Eve is modest and humble about her achievements and contributions. She does not boast or seek attention. She is genuinely interested in helping others and making a positive difference in the world. Frank is greedy and arrogant. He brags about his wealth and status. He only attends the event to network and promote his business. He does not care about the cause or the people he meets.

Therefore, if you want to know whether someone is a dishonest or manipulative person, you might want to look at their H factor. Of course, personality is not the only factor that influences behavior, and people can change over time and across situations. But knowing your own and others’ personality traits can help you understand yourself and others better, and improve your interactions with them.

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