WHY DO COLLEGE STUDENTS CHEAT?
Empirical Studies of College Student Cheating Cheating is a complex psychological, social, and situational behavior. Students may externalize that cheating is a futile endeavor because it is out of their control, or conversely, they may view cheating as a means of shifting control from the environment to themselves. Students may internalize by believing they have control over events and can deal with the situation without cheating, or conversely, they may resort to cheating as a means of controlling what appears to be a capricious situation (Leming, 1980, p. 86). No single variable has been significantly associated with cheating behavior but several researchers have empirically studied cheating to explain why college students cheat. Six factors have been identified from research literature as having a significant influence on cheating behavior (Barnett and Dalton, 1981, pp. 545-549): (1) Student stress. Stress in the form of pressure from parents and/or the university for good grades c
