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Personality type and ideology are the primary drivers of the intent to commit or fight corruption.

The more authoritarian individuals are, the higher their propensity to engage in corruption.

Individuals who believe in the possibility of political change are often the fighters of corruption.

Further education, whether at the university level or as professional ethics training, is thought to curb corruption, but it doesn’t always work. Social psychologists M. Urcia and A. Alva, behavioral economist V. Vivas, and accountant A. Espinosa from three Peruvian universities teamed up to review and test theories of why some highly educated individuals tolerate unethical practices and rationalize corrupt acts. Their research is localized to Peru and generalized to Latin America, but the effects of corruption they outline are universal.

Their 2026 study, “Psychosocial factors associated with corrupt intentions among educated citizens,” assesses 250 Peruvian university students and graduates for associations between political ideology, cynicism, personality, perceptions of ethics norms and political systems, and how these factors influence the response to corruption. They explain that Peruvian university students and graduates understand corruption as a systemic phenomenon that involves citizens through daily practices at a structural, cultural, and direct level.

Their research supports recent findings that personality type and ideology influence perceptions of norms and political systems, leading to cognitive assessments that drive the intent to either tolerate, commit, or fight corruption. They describe the individuals most likely to tolerate or fight corruption, and the societal outcomes of their actions. They note that voluntary compliance with ethical norms relies on perceiving those norms as legitimate and fair. They find one ideology and two........

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