Although I agree with the premise that socialism induces moral laxity, the experiment seems designed to get the desired results, aka, “confirmation bias”. What part of the experiment is supposed to simulate socialism?
That part of the experiment was not described in the excerpt. The researchers went on to give participants a questionnaire asking about where they had lived, East or West Germany, and for how long. There was a positive correlation between the amount of cheating and the length of time spent in East Germany.