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Updated: Jul 20, 2026

An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime
Published on: May 3, 2016
Academic cheating as a function of defense mechanisms and object relations
Samuel Juni1, Julie Gross, Joanna Sokolowska
1Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 400 East Building, New York, NY 10003-6674, USA. sam.juni@nyu.edu
Abstract:
This study examined relationships between academic cheating behaviors by using self-reports of past cheating behavior, providing a situational experiment with the opportunity to cheat, and evaluating defense mechanisms and object relations as measured by the Defense Mechanisms Inventory. Subjects included 75 female and 8 male university students ranging in age from 18 to 51 years (M=25.5, SD=6.9). Analysis showed variations in students' self-reported cheating history relative to their measured object relations status and type of defense mechanisms. Actual cheating in the experimental setting was not significantly related to any of these variables. Findings are discussed based on a critique of heterogeneity of the cheating construct.
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