Abstract
Personal goals help explain how personality traits are expressed in behavior, yet the goals linked to honesty-humility remain poorly understood. We developed and validated the Goals for Honesty and Goals for Dishonesty (GHGD) questionnaire–the first instrument measuring goals of honesty-humility. Using a multi-method, bottom-up approach, we identified and classified personal goals associated with honesty-humility. Study 1 (N = 250) employed participant-driven goal elicitation using personality-descriptive adjectives. Responses were classified using natural language processing and raters' coding, yielding a final set of goals. Study 2 (N = 300) refined goals, selecting them based on their association with personality traits, developing the GHGD questionnaire. Study 3 (N = 400 participants and N = 209 informants) provided validation using self-reports, informant-reports, and observed behavior in an incentivized cheating task. Results revealed a two-component solution distinguishing honesty-oriented (GH) from dishonesty-oriented goals (GD). These dimensions were moderately negatively correlated, indicating distinct rather than bipolar motivational orientations. GD predicted dishonest behavior beyond trait measures, while GH related more strongly to authentic living and self-concept integrity. Overall, goal-based assessments predicted dishonest behavior above and beyond trait self-reports. This work integrates trait-based and process-oriented approaches to personality, delivering theoretical and empirical contributions for future research on moral personality and behavior.