Keeping up with the Joneses: Students' Perceptions of Academically Dishonest Behavior

To understand undergraduate perceptions of academic dishonesty and honor codes, our participants estimated the likelihood that they, their friends, and the average college student would plagiarize or cheat on tests. Undergraduates reported that the average college student was most likely to cheat, their friends would be less likely to cheat, and they themselves would be the least likely to cheat. They did not believe that an honor code would have a large effect on their cheating behaviors, but it would reduce the cheating behaviors of their friends and the average student. We discuss these results in the context of social norms research.