Moral Appeal, Sanction Threat, and Deviance: An Experimental Test

This study represents an experimental test of deterrence hypotheses. The relative effects of a moral appeal and a sanction threat on college classroom cheating were assessed. The moral appeal was found to have no effect, but a clear and substantial impact was observed for the sanction threat. The sanction threat was found to be most effective in deterring cheating among females and least effective among those who had the greatest incentive to cheat. The applicability of the findings to deterrence theory is discussed.