Cheating among College Graduate Students

Forty-five graduate students received three quizzes in one of their courses, and also filled out the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and a questionnaire on cheating. The main findings were: (a) the incidence of cheating among these graduate subjects was found to be at least as extensive as reported in prior studies among undergraduate students-at least eighteen of the forty-five (40%) graduate subjects cheated on the quizzes; (b) pressure to obtain good grades was the main reason subjects felt they cheated in the past; (c) there was a lack of consensus whether certain behaviors constitute cheating; (d) no significant personality differences were found between cheaters and non-cheaters; (e) the MMPI results provided evidence in support of the doctrine of specificity of moral behavior.