Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has announced a $4.4 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation in support of an initiative aimed at addressing the philosophy and science of honesty.

Over the next three years, in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, the Honesty Project will conduct field studies, surveys, and laboratory and online experiments and code qualitative data across fields such as psychology, business, economics, and political science with a goal of investigating what determines honesty; how honest people are; consequences of honesty in relationships, groups, and institutions; and ways to foster honesty in ourselves and the culture in general. The project will include international competitions for scholars conducting research on honesty, studies being conducted by Wake Forest professors, as well as two research conferences and a summer seminar.

"We want our children to grow up to be honest, we want politicians and other leaders to be honest, we value honesty in society and in the workplace," said Christian B. Miller, project director and the A.C. Reid Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest. "And yet, we have so much more to learn about honesty."

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