Dan Ariely

In 2026, a replication of the influential 2002 paper on deadlines and procrastination failed to reproduce a central finding. Data Colada subsequently analysed files sent in 2006 from Ariely's MIT address with metadata associated with his name, concluding that the data in both studies had been altered. Psychological Science retracted the paper on 2 September 2026 due to a lack of confidence in the datasets, with both authors' agreement.

State of the evidence

Documented

The 2008 paper on maintaining a moral self-image notably included the famous experiment in which reminding participants of the Ten Commandments was supposed to reduce cheating. A registered replication project conducted across 25 laboratories with 5 786 participants found a small effect in the opposite direction. In 2024, the Journal of Marketing Research published an Expression of Concern, also citing questions about the provenance of certain data and conditions omitted from analyses.

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Directly implicated

The field study supplied by Ariely for the 2012 PNAS paper on signing an honesty declaration was at the centre of a major controversy. Replications did not reproduce the effect. Data Colada subsequently identified signs of manipulation in the insurance file, and PNAS retracted the paper in 2021. The Hartford indicated that the small pilot conducted with Ariely had not produced the published result and that the original file provided by the company differed from the final dataset.

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Directly implicated

In 2022, the Israeli investigative programme 'Hamakor' devoted an extensive report to several studies by Dan Ariely, questioning their reproducibility, how the experiments had been conducted and the provenance of certain datasets. Questions subsequently raised by The New Yorker included the location and identities of those who carried out an experiment on the Ten Commandments that earlier accounts had associated with UCLA.

State of the evidence

Denied by the person

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Directly implicated

Psychological Science published an Expression of Concern in 2021 concerning the 2004 paper 'Effort for Payment'. The journal identified uncertainties concerning statistical test values and the analytical approach; Ariely was unable to locate the original individual-level data needed to resolve these ambiguities.

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Directly implicated

During an NPR appearance, Ariely claimed that two dentists examining the same X-ray would agree on cavities only about 50 % of the time and attributed this figure to Delta Dental. A Delta Dental spokesperson stated that the organisation did not collect data supporting that conclusion, and NPR acknowledged that the claim should have been checked before broadcast.

State of the evidence

Denied by the person

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Personally implicated

In an MIT experiment on pain and the placebo effect, volunteers received electric shocks. A participant complained after the study, and the university found that an assistant involved lacked the training required to work with human subjects, which an administrator described as a very serious violation. Ariely indicated that he had been suspended from collecting data for one year.

State of the evidence

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Directly implicated