Analysis of the Motivations and Perceptions of Cheating among High School Students

Faculty Sponsor

Lissa Yogan

College

Arts and Sciences

Discipline(s)

Statistics

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 5-3-2019

Abstract

“Keep your eyes on your own paper.” Despite this common statement and others like it that are given by teachers to discourage cheating, students still engage in cheating behavior. This study examines high school students’ perceptions of cheating and motivations behind cheating. Using questionnaire responses from a sample of 600 students from a Midwestern high school, this study analyzes the factors contributing to students’ total number of cheating incidences. In particular, this study employs one-way ANOVA and multiple regression analyses to determine the significant predictors of a student’s propensity to cheat. We found that students’ beliefs that cheating is wrong and their perceptions of a cheating culture in their school were correlated with their inclination to cheat. From the multiple regression analysis, students who strongly agreed that cheating is wrong and who did not believe there to be a cheating culture within their school were predicted to commit fewer cheating incidences than those who strongly disagreed that cheating is wrong and who believed a cheating culture existed. Other variables that were thought to have a possible impact on the number of cheating incidences, such as GPA, grade level, gender, and annual household income, were not significant predictors of the total number of cheating incidences committed.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

Emma Chelsvig is a senior geography and statistics double major.

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