Cheating Behavior, Situational Influence, and Moral Development

Using the Hartshorne and May circles test, cheating behavior was detected among 152 undergraduates under two situations: high threat, high supervision (HTHS) and low threat, low supervision (LTLS). Rest’s Defining Test was used to assess level of moral development. Among all subjects and across both situations it was found that subjects high in moral development cheated less than other subjects (p >.01). However, it was also found that in the LTLS situation, subjects high in moral development were just as likely to cheat as subjects low in moral development. The implications of the findings for moral education and the cognitive developmental theory of moral development are discussed.