Bad apple effect: study shows how people are influenced by rule-breaking of others

‘In many, many cases we are very much influenced by what others are doing,’ one of the study’s authors said. Photograph: Cultura Creative/Alamy

From politicians taking bribes to bullying and harassment in City firms, leaders have been quick to label those who break the rules as the odd “bad apple”. But new research backs up the idiom that one bad apple can spoil the barrel.

Researchers have found that when people go beyond the rule-breaking they see in others, general compliance can swiftly turn into widespread rule-breaking.