For instance, those who help clerical job seekers find work say they often hear clients speak of marketplace pressures to exaggerate their skills. Both Neil Wilson and Pat Peterson say their Newburyport, Mass., clients sometimes feel "forced" to falsify their resumes, and the frequency of such deception has increased in the current economic drought. At Priority Personnel Inc., Peterson says, 25 percent of those who claim a particular level of competence turn out to be lying when she tests them on a computer.

Those with limited skills "feel they're forced to be better than they really are to get a job," Wilson says. "Desperation does nasty things to people. It makes them go beyond their normal threshold."

In Callahan's analysis, it's not just the unskilled who are buckling under mounting pressures to lie. Today's "winner take all" incentive system, he says, pays barely a living wage to workers in journalism, the arts and minor league professional athletics, for instance, while top achievers make millions. The result: Some figure, why not take a chance if a little plagiarism or steroid use can make me rich?

"It's now more lucrative to lie," says Diane Swanson, professor of professional ethics at Kansas State University. "People must know there is a risk, but the payoff is potentially enormous . . . Conversely, if you admit you had a flat quarter or a flat year, then the market will penalize you."

Though enticements and pressures to lie may be stronger than in the past, another factor has cultural observers equally concerned: Individuals, it seems, are getting weaker when faced with temptation. Or put another way, many seem to know right from wrong, but material success has become more important to them than the task of sculpting moral character.

This assessment resonates with Michael Josephson, president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics in Los Angeles. For signs of moral decay, he says, look no further than prime-time television. Shows such as "The Apprentice" and "Survivor," he says, send a clear message that the winner in life is often the one who deceives others without getting caught.

"Those shows are popular because people aren't offended by them," Josephson says in a phone interview. "Temptations were greater in the Depression when people were more desperate. So it's not that temptations are higher today. What's changed is that our defenses have gotten lower."