Corruption: the culture of a society and/or personality factors?

Corruption is a global challenge, hindering economic growth, reducing per capita income and negatively affecting the development of industry and commerce.1 Although present worldwide, it is mainly found in developing countries, especially those with low incomes and closed economies,1 very much like Brazil. The losses Brazil has endured because of corruption are difficult to calculate, but official estimates suggest that tens of billions of reais are lost annually. Such evidence of widespread corruption in the Brazilian scenario reinforces the need for conducting multidisciplinary studies, producing a better understanding of this phenomenon, and developing interventions to address it.

Despite a wealth of psychological and psychiatric research on criminal behavior, the scientific literature is still lacking when it comes to studies on corruption. Corruption is defined as the use of public power for personal benefit, and although no social phenomenon is reducible to the sphere of the individual, it has been recognized that individual personality is an important element in the adoption of behaviors and attitudes, with several negative personality traits having been associated with morally and ethically questionable behaviors.

There is a long tradition in psychology and psychiatry of studying personality traits associated with criminal behavior. It is known, for example, that certain disorders (such as antisocial personality disorder) are associated with aggression and criminality.2 In addition, the nuances of the various personality disorders often relate to different types of violent behavior: borderline personality disorder is more associated with interpersonal aggression than is antisocial personality disorder, which is a risk factor for “victimless” crimes, such as corruption.2 On the other hand, studies have shown that individuals with higher levels of conscientiousness, according to the five-factor model, are less likely to engage in deviant behavior.3 This observation is consistent with the theoretical model, since conscientiousness mainly relates to the degree of organizational capacity and evaluation of the necessary steps to reach an objective, in addition to persistence and motivation in objective-oriented behavior. Therefore, high levels of conscientiousness are related to greater perception of risk, which reduces criminal engagement.4

In addition to these aspects of personality, the large amounts of money embezzled in Brazil may also contribute to corruption, as, when high monetary values are involved, they tend to justify behaviors, shifting the perception of guilt from individuals to the money itself.4 As with crime in general, it is neither possible nor prudent to reduce the issue of corruption to a single biopsychological dimension. However, greater knowledge about the neural and psychological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon would undeniably contribute to addressing the problem of corruption more effectively.

Ayal et al.5 propose behavioral methods for reducing corruption based on scientific evidence, such as requesting a public declaration of ethics, which has been shown to reduce the risk of corruption by generating cognitive dissonance. Fostering this line of research among Brazilian scientists in mental health can make a great difference to the present and future of the country.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest.