She said the issue of corruption, addressed from the psychological aspect, has not been analysed in Lithuania, according to a press release by Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius.
She sought to determine how many people would actually admit that they had come face to face with corruption.
Moreover, the researchers she led wanted to find out in which sector individuals would confront corruption more often, public or private, and would admit to that.
The team’s hypothesis was that individuals who do not confront corruption were more satisfied with their life in Lithuania and vice versa, those who confronted corruption more often would be less satisfied with life in Lithuania.
“The research results are rather unexpected and paradoxical,” Prof. Diržytė said.
“We found that individuals confronting corruption more often were, statistically, more happy with their jobs, salary and possibilities to achieve a good work-leisure balance as well as their financial situation.”
The researchers were surprising that individuals who came into contact with corruption more often were also more likely to be satisfied with their spiritual life.
The results, entitled “confronting corruption and the paradox of a satisfied life”, contradict research of other scholars.
“To be frank, the data is disappointing. It shows that although individuals understand what corruption is, don’t tolerate it and admit to coming face to face with it in various sectors, that does not diminish their satisfaction with life in Lithuania,” Prof. Diržytė noted.
“And there is an opposite effect that those who more often come into contact with corruption are more satisfied with their material and financial situation,” she added.
There needs to be more research in this area, Prof. Diržytė said.
It could mean, she said, that not only did many people in Lithuania have little faith in the moral foundations of a functioning state, but also did not uphold these values themselves.
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