Self-Monitoring, Surveillance, and Incentive Effects on Cheating

Dishonest behavior is influenced by situational and personality factors. To assess the role of self-monitoring in cheating, 110 American undergraduates completed Snyder's (1974) self-monitoring scale and attempted to negotiate complex mazes designed to allow and assess cheating under close and loose surveillance. In addition, half of the subjects were offered a performance-contingent incentive. Results indicate that surveillance reduced dishonesty and that low self-monitors' comparative lack of concern regarding self-presentation interacted with incentives to increase dishonesty.