The Real Reasons Behind Student Cheating

Cheating in schools is considered an exceptionally horrible habit since students who cheat not only waste their chances of learning but also the time and money of their parents who only want to see them successful in their career and life. In addition to having several ethical and psychological concerns, the habit of cheating among students is harmful to educational systems as well. A major issue is that the students who cheat develop the habit of fooling and deceiving others, and most of them never learn how to do hard work for success.

Several factors urge a student to cheat but one of the major psychological factors behind is cognitive dissonance. According to Leon Festinger’s theory,

People feel uncomfortable when their views or acts contradict each other.

Similarly, in academic settings, students experience cognitive dissonance when they face a lot of pressure to succeed academically, which leads them to cheat. Students feel discomfort at the start then they take the courage to excuse their dishonest behavior by convincing themselves that cheating is necessary to achieve their goals which is impossible if they do hard work as there is too much competition.

Students with poor self-efficacy beliefs lack confidence in their abilities and capabilities to accomplish something with hard work, which urges them to turn to cheating as a shortcut to academic achievements. On the other hand, the students with stronger self-efficacy beliefs learn to strive in times of adversity with their hard work and stick to ethical standards because they have a stronger opinion that they can achieve their goals with hard work, effort, and determination. The self-efficacy beliefs by Albert Bandura have been shown to play an important role in determining cheating behavior.

Furthermore, during the investigation of the psychological factors that contribute to cheating behavior, it is also important to keep other factors such as social norms and peer pressure, in mind. There is a famous theory about social learning that explains,

People learn by seeing and imitating the behavior of others around them.

The same is true for cheating; in educational institutions where cheating is accepted and strong consequences are not imposed, students are more inclined to engage in such actions in order to earn a grade. In such settings, cheating becomes normalized, and the cycle continues if not regulated. One disadvantage is that if a student from such a system transfers to another nation, they will perform poorly in the higher education system there.

Anxiety and stress are two additional psychological factors that encourage students to cheat. Students may experience severe levels of anxiety due to societal pressure to excel academically, the fear of failing, and disappointing their parents. Moderate arousal or stress can boost performance, whereas extreme stress may impede cognitive functioning and decision-making. As a coping method to reduce anxiety and stress and achieve the desirable outcomes, students do cheating.

In addition to psychological variables, a person’s unique characteristics might impact cheating behavior. Conscientiousness, impulsiveness, and narcissism are some of the attributes that drive them to engage in academic dishonesty. Individuals with high levels of narcissism, for example, emphasize personal success and ego fulfillment over ethical considerations, which leads them to cheat in order to achieve a false sense of accomplishment.

Parents’ influences have a crucial role in developing a student’s behavior and I believe that if parents let their children live independently from social pressure and let them become who they want to be, cheating can be avoided. Parents must also not judge the intelligence of their children on the basis of grades. There is a famous quote,

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

So, together, we can work to build a culture of integrity and academic honesty in educational institutions by creating a supportive academic atmosphere, improving ethical decision-making skills, and addressing underlying psychological difficulties that contribute to cheating behavior.

Disclaimer: The story has already been published on other platforms.