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Identifying and profiling scholastic cheaters: their personality, cognitive ability, and motivation
Kevin M Williams1, Craig Nathanson, Delroy L Paulhus
1Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Applied
|September 22, 2010
Summary
Scholastic cheating can be predicted by personality traits like psychopathy and low agreeableness. These findings offer insights for educators and researchers aiming to identify and prevent academic dishonesty.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Criminology
Background:
- Skepticism persists regarding the ability to profile academic cheaters.
- Previous research has overlooked key personality predictors and diagnostic tools for scholastic dishonesty.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify reliable predictors of academic cheating.
- To explore the role of personality traits and motivational factors in scholastic dishonesty.
- To provide practical implications for educators and researchers.
Main Methods:
- Study 1: Large-scale survey assessing personality predictors (including the Dark Triad) of self-reported cheating.
- Study 2: Naturalistic study using plagiarism detection (Turn-It-In) as a behavioral indicator of cheating, alongside verbal ability assessment.
- Study 3: Examination of motivational mediators (unrestrained achievement, moral inhibition, fear of punishment) linking psychopathy to cheating.
Main Results:
- The Dark Triad (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy), low agreeableness, and low conscientiousness significantly predicted self-reported cheating; only psychopathy remained significant in multiple regression.
- Psychopathy and poor verbal ability independently predicted plagiarism.
- Unrestrained achievement and lack of moral inhibition mediated the psychopathy-cheating link, but fear of punishment did not.
Conclusions:
- Academic cheating can be profiled using specific personality traits, notably psychopathy.
- Poor verbal ability is an independent predictor of plagiarism.
- Motivational factors, particularly unrestrained achievement and low moral inhibition, are key mediators in the relationship between psychopathy and academic dishonesty.
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