In a second test, participants were shown a series of word fragments, such as "--ral" and "e---c--" and asked which words they associated with them.

In morning experiments, participants were more likely to form the words "moral" and "ethical" while during the afternoon the words "coral" and "effects" were most common.

Further tests conducted online showed that people were more likely to send dishonest messages or claim to have solved an unsolvable problem in the afternoon than the morning.

Writing the Psychological Science journal, the researchers said the difference was particularly pronounced in people with higher ethical standards, who always behaved morally during the morning but slipped during the afternoon.

In contrast, those who were able to "morally disengage", or behave unethically without feeling guilty, were prone to cheating whatever the time of day.

Dr Maryam Kouchaki, one of the lead authors, said: "Unfortunately, the most honest people, such as those less likely to morally disengage, may be the most susceptible to the negative consequences associated with the morning morality effect."

The findings could be relevant to organisations who should be more vigilant about the behaviour of customers and employees during the afternoon, she added. “Our findings suggest that mere time of day can lead to a systematic failure of good people to act morally.”

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