The problem that some people are having with the latest guidance on masking from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is that it depends heavily on an honor system. The lead federal agency in the battle against COVID-19 is saying — or at least that’s how people are taking it — that if you are fully vaccinated, there’s no need to mask up. If you are not vaccinated, however, you need to keep wearing one. This dual guidance, however, relies on the public’s integrity. It’s asking people to be honest with themselves and others about their vaccination history. But, as experts in human behavior point out, honor systems generally only work if the stakes are small. If there’s much to gain from lying, many people will do so. And that’s especially true if there’s little in the way of consequences for the lying. COVID-19 illustrates this perfectly. Whether people resist getting vaccinated because they are scared of/or politically opposed to the shots, there still are a lot of advantages to claiming to having gotten them. If you are vaccinated (or thought to be), other people are more comfortable being around you. It may gain you admission to shopping or entertainment venues where you might otherwise be unwelcome. And, with the CDC’s concurrence, you can now go unmasked into an indoor public space and no one should look at you disapprovingly. And if you lie about being vaccinated, who is going to catch you? There is no appetite in this country for “vaccine passports” or other proofs of inoculation against COVID-19. And even if you were to get caught in the lie, there’s no punishment other than perhaps some modest shaming.Michael Cunningham, a psychologist at the University of Louisville who has done extensive research on lying, cheating and stealing, told USA Today that about one out of every four people will lie about “consequential things.”He and other experts say look for that to be the case with COVID-19. If someone tells you they’ve been vaccinated, you might be careful about believing them, especially if they have shown troubles with truthfulness in the past.The CDC apparently is hoping that by relaxing its mask guidance, it will further entice the hesitant to get vaccinated. It might instead entice them to fib about it.
