People who weigh the pros and cons of a situation before making a decision are more likely to make unethical choices, a new study finds.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. Researchers noted that this is especially true among people who repeatedly engage in number-focused calculations.

"Performing calculations, whether related to money or not, seemed to encourage people to engage in unethical behaviors to better themselves," Chen-Bo Zhong, an associate professor of organizational behavior and human resource management at the university's Rotman School, said in a press statement. He co-authored the study with Long Wang of City University of Hong Kong and J. Keith Murnighan from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. 

The researchers noted the study participants were more likely to engage in more selfish behavior in games where they were asked to choose between their own self-interest and a stranger's interest after taking part in a class that taught calculative economics concept. Participants who were instead given a history lesson on the industrial revolution were less likely to behave selfishly in the subsequent games.

"A similar but lesser effect was found when participants were first asked to solve math problems instead of verbal problems before playing the games," the researchers said. "Furthermore, the effect could potentially be reduced by making non-numerical values more prominent. The study showed less self-interested behavior when participants were shown pictures of families after calculations."

The study was published online in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.