Am I wrong or is there a whole lot of cheating going on these days? And is cheating more widespread than ever before? I don’t know, but it sure seems like it, and from sources both expected and unexpected. Of course, there are the usual suspects, including students, financiers, pharmaceutical companies, politicians, and professional athletes. But cheating is cropping up in populations that have previously been perceived as paragons of virtue, such as teachers, medical professionals, scientists, and the military.
So why all the cheating? Though I wasn’t able to find an iota of research studying cheating in business, politics, or sports, there is a plethora of polls and studies on cheating among students. The most robust finding is that cheating in school has been increasing steadily in recent years and is now considered an epidemic. Reasons offered by students who cheat include fear of failure, cheating as being an accepted norm, pressure to excel from parents and society, and a culture of “success at any cost.” These rationalizations could apply equally well to all walks of life in which cheating is prevalent.
One argument that we often hear is that cheating is a reflection of our culture’s moral decline. Respect, honor, integrity, and accountability just don’t mean much any more in a world where other “values,” such as greed, celebrity, power, have taken precedence over the traditional values that have provided our country’s moral compass for the past 230-plus years. Moreover, a search on line reveals many articles that indict our ever-more-invasive media as the cause of this moral decline.
These explanations offered so far are perfectly reasonable (and I welcome others that I haven’t thought of), yet I sense something much more…primal in understanding the causes of this growing culture of cheating in America (and I presume other countries). What lies at the heart of cheating in any avenue of life, whether personal, academic, or career, is self-interest, which most would argue is a particularly vile human attribute. At the same time, there may be nothing more fundamental to human existence than self-interest which, at its foundation, is an expression of our most basic instinct to survive.
Our ability to engage in moral reasoning (and presumably to resist that survival instinct) is one thing that is supposed to separate us from animals. The evidence does indicate that morality is both wired into us and learned from our culture. And there are many examples of people every day who appear to act morally and against their own self-interests. Yet, we are not as far from animals as many would like to think; we are still driven primarily by that survival instinct.
Thankfully, there is also evidence that altruism ,the opposite of self-interest, is wired into us and serves the role of helping us function within a social group. But even altruism can be interpreted as an extension of the survival instinct because when we place the interests of others ahead of our own, they are more likely to help us in the future, thus increasing our chances of survival (apologies for the somewhat cynical view of altruism). The reality is that, when push comes to shove, humans will likely choose self-interest and survival over doing what is morally right and helping others.
So what does this have to do with cheating? Our survival instinct (and the accompanying self-interest) exerts a greater influence over our behavior when our lives are threatened. But, let’s be realistic, it isn’t very often that our lives are directly threatened these days, for example, we are rarely confronted by sabre-toothed tigers or warring tribes on a daily basis (okay, never). However, our lives are indirectly endangered quite frequently, particularly our financial lives, where loss of income, savings, and other means of modern-day survival are put in jeopardy.
Self-interest, and the accompanying motivation to cheat, would likely increase during periods of economic crisis and instability, which we are experiencing these days in spades. And most of the cheating that goes on has a clear relationship with financial security, which translates into increased chances of survival in our modern world.
Cheating in high school means better grades and likely admittance into better colleges. Cheating in college provides admission to better graduate programs and more job opportunities. Cheating in graduate school results in better job offers. Cheating among athletes with performance-enhancing drugs provides a performance advantage on the field that can start as early as high school and continue into the professional and Olympic ranks. Cheating in the financial industry results in a bigger paycheck and faster and higher advancement. Cheating by corporations ensures continuing market share and profits (and survival) when companies are dying daily. In sum, cheating offers immediate and future rewards. In all cases, cheating is in one’s self-interest and increases one’s chances of survival (except perhaps when caught).
This threat to survival has become so great that even those in “virtuous” professions, as I mentioned, teaching, medicine, and the military, for example, feel compelled to cheat to get ahead in their respective professions. When those with high moral standing are cheating, well, that doesn’t speak well of our society. In every “jungle” these days, it seems, survival of the fittest rules.
My thesis can’t explain all forms of cheating, most notably marital infidelity, though it could be argued that men who cheat on their wives are, symbolically or in reality spreading their seed to at least ensure their genetic survival. But I digress.
If my theory about the relationship between economic uncertainty and cheating is correct, then we would expect cheating to be cyclic, with increases during economic downturn and decreases during economic booms. For example, was there a rise in cheating during the Great Depression and the recent recessions of the last decade? My intuition tells me yes, but science often discredits what seems intuitively clear. Cheating, for that matter, may occur more during economic high times because people feel invincible and entitled. Or there is no relationship between cheating and the economy, and cheating is just a part of human nature that may serve individual interests while disserving societal interests.
If cheating is so ubiquitous, perhaps it serves some societal need. Emile Durkheim, the French sociologist, argued that deviant behavior is necessary for a society to function because it shows citizens the boundaries of appropriate behavior and can also lead to necessary reforms. Yet, the costs to society for cheating are significant. Those who cheat rise unfairly in our meritocratic culture preventing those who are deserving from taking their rightful place. Cheaters who attain positions of power within a culture are less moral and less capable, thus their immorality spreads like a virus throughout the culture and the quality of that culture declines. Cheating also involves breaking the rules that govern and cohere society which can lead to public distrust and cynicism and to a breakdown in society itself.
Sadly, much like “real” crime (which cheating can be), deterrence isn’t very effective. When you consider the ubiquity of cheating across the societal spectrum, it is clear that the rewards are sufficiently motivating, most cheaters don’t get caught, and the punishments aren’t severe enough to prevent it.
As a result, and even more sadly, if there is a way to get ahead more easily and with less effort, many people will open that door and, with little apparent deliberation or remorse, walk right through it to satisfy their own self-interests and ensure their survival.
