Students who cheat on tests and papers may have something in common with felons, according to a recent psychological study.

A series of three studies suggest certain negative personality traits, such as psychopathy, can predict academic cheating among adolescents, according to an article in the September issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.

In the first of a series of three studies, researchers at the University of British Columbia surveyed 249 college students through anonymous, take-home personality tests, according to a news release issued by the American Psychological Association. Tests were based on two groups of personality traits — the Dark Triad and the Big Five.

The Dark Triad includes negative traits of psychopathic behavior, Machiavellianism and narcissism, meaning a person is likely to show traits of cynicism, manipulative behavior, arrogance and feelings of entitlement. The Big Five encompasses the positive traits of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experiences.

The study revealed students who admitted to cheating scored higher on measures of all the Dark Triad traits in the first study, according to the journal article. The report also revealed psychopathic behavior was the strongest predictor of cheating, while Machiavellianism and narcissism came after.

Using the same personality variables in the second study as the first, researchers examined cheating behavior by sending students’ essays through Turnitin, an online system that measures how much of a paper is plagiarized, according to the news release.

The second study revealed a strong relationship between the Dark Triad and plagiarism, with psychopathic behavior still the top predictor, according to the news release.

The third study looked at why students cheat. Researchers had 223 college students take online personality tests and rate themselves on a Self-Report Cheating Scale. The scale presented students with 26 behavior choices, such as ‘Brought hidden notes to a school test’ and ‘Copied someone else’s answers on a school test without them knowing.’

The third study revealed subgroups of students who expressed three common justifications for cheating — to achieve an academic goal, unconcerned potential punishments and a lack of moral inhibition, according to the journal article.

Ben Bradley, associate professor of ethics, said he has noticed some of his students get overwhelmed and feel like they need to cheat to get ahead.

‘There also are some cases where students don’t intentionally cheat, and they just may not realize they are doing it, like borrowing an idea without contributing to the correct source,’ Bradley said.

Molly Brunkard, a senior music history major, said she did consider borrowing an idea to be cheating. She said she did not see the point to cheating.

‘I think cheating ruins the entire point of education,’ Brunkard said. ‘We pay all this money to go to school, and if we cheat, we’re not learning anything.’

Lisa Szafran, a visiting assistant professor of psychology, pointed out although the study revealed a strong correlation between the negative personality traits and cheating behaviors, it does not suggest a student with the traits is definitely a cheater.

‘One of the main reasons researchers look at personality is to understand and predict behaviors,’ Szafran said. ‘It can help identify people that may be more susceptible to cheating, but it would be wrong to say that all narcissists, for example, cheat.’

Szafran said everyone falls somewhere within personality traits because he or she is seen on a continuum. A person will be more or less likely to exhibit certain behaviors depending on where he or she falls along the continuum, she said.

Researchers in the study suggested teachers could work to minimize cheating in the classroom by creating different exam forms that test the same material, issuing clear warnings about university cheating standards, banning cell phones and other electronic device use in the classroom, and using plagiarism-detection software, according to the journal article.

‘I do believe that people can change their behavior. It’s really hard to change personalities because it’s engrained in who people are,’ Szafran said. ‘But behavior related to certain personality traits can change based on positive reinforcement, such as a reward for not doing a specific behavior.’

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Published on September 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm