When it comes to questions on ethics, are people honest in their answers, or do they lean more towards answering in a vague PC way so as to not appear in an unflattering way?

I find how people answer questions of ethics does not always reflect their views in general conversation, for instance, if one seen a young man wrestle a bike away from a young teen and ride off, to stop him would it be ethical to run alongside him and run him off the road to make him crash (and maybe get out and pound the guy). Most people would say it wasn’t ethical to do, and to let the cops handle it. In conversations where what is ethical is not in play, if they read about something like that, their answer or comment would be more like handling it as they did in the West for horse thieves, or in the Middle East where they take a digit or a hand, or simply beating the crap out of him. When it comes to the question of ethics are people less honest and answer more on being more honorable than those who are doing wrong?