Out of Character: Surprising Truths About the Liar, Cheat, Sinner (and Saint) Lurking in All

Out of Character: Surprising Truths About the Liar, Cheat, Sinner (and Saint) Lurking in All of Us, by David DeSteno and Piercarlo Valdesolo, is only surprising if you think that our character traits are fixed and immutable.  I do not, therefore I did not find it at all unusual that seemingly good people will make unethical choices under the right circumstances.  So, if you are like me, this book will not be earth shaking.  

I do wonder about the experimental foundation upon which most of the conclusions in this book are based.  Most of the moral/ethical decisions that have to be made in these experiments are fairly low stakes compared to real world decisions.  The subjects are typically college students (18-22).  Are these subjects really indicative of the general population?  What about a wider range of ages, ethnicity, sex, gender?  Seems like this work rests on a floppy experimental base.