Academic dishonesty. You might not see these 2 (formal) words thrown around on a regular basis as a university student. But what about the infamous 8-letter word that is spewed among students frequently? That’s right, I’m referring to that word: cheating.
We’re all too familiar with what cheating entails. Think additional post-it notes on cheatsheets. Think collusions with peers. Think having access to unauthorised devices during examinations… This non-exhaustive list goes on.
We know the administration’s harsh stance towards cheating—as elucidated by the mandatory academic dishonesty modules we have to take upon admission. The constant email reminders regarding academic dishonesty, as well as its consequences, serve as a testament too. It’s as clear as day that academic dishonesty isn’t tolerated in school. As such, whenever we hear of peers engaging in that, we often scurry to condemn and judge the integrity of people who cheat. After which, we proceed with the necessary processes to punish these cheaters.
However, we seem to hit a pause from here onward. Instead of dissecting the crux of the issue surrounding cheating, we merely scrap the surface of the issue and fixate on the notion of cheaters cheating. We’re quick to pinpoint and condemn cheaters to have poor morals. Yet, we seemingly fail to dive deeper into this key question—why do cheaters cheat?
We’re quick to pinpoint and condemn cheaters to have poor morals. Yet, we seemingly fail to dive deeper into this key question—why do cheaters cheat?
Hypercompetitive Environment
As a whole, most students are fixated on the magical three-letter word: Cumulative Average Point. Before entering university, most of us are conditioned to have high aspirations of graduating with a desired score (which differs across people). Personally, I think having such drive and aspirations is something to be applauded for. Just like many others, I too have personal academic goals I’d like to achieve. However, problems might start to fester if such feelings turn into an obsession. This is especially so as we progress up into our senior years.
For freshmen, they’re typically given 5 S/U credits to be used within their first year at NUS. It is common advice for freshmen to ‘S/U’ their relevant modules to attain the highest CAP possible since they wouldn’t be able to carry forward these 5 S/U credits into their upper years. A new problem, unfortunately, emerges: to maximise our CAP, we have to take as many modules as we’re confident of scoring a decent grade in. This causes us to be on the constant lookout for ways to maximise our CAP while reducing risks. For example, we often scour NUSmods and different module review websites for modules that guarantee an ‘easy A’. This relentless pursuit for that prized possession might incentivise some to cheat.
This causes us to be on the constant lookout for ways to maximise our CAP while reducing risks
The Need to Fit In
Beyond the hypercompetitive and grade-centric environment, peer pressure comes into play as well. It might be absurd to consider peer pressure as an important reason why students cheat. However, imagine this: Many of your peers in your tutorial slot cheat. Your friends you bidded for the module with also nudge you to ‘share and discuss answers’. Such an environment might cause some to feel compelled to cheat.
As humans, we naturally crave a sense of belonging in any social group we’re thrusted into. The act of us changing our behaviour and beliefs to fit into groups we desire to be a part of is known as normative social influence—and research has shown that the greater the size of the group (capped at a size of 5-8), the higher the influence it has on us. This is exacerbated by the fact that we, humans, are alarmingly okay with a small degree of immorality due to moral disengagement. Therefore, it is no wonder that some feel the need to cheat to fit in!
Self-Justification in Cheating
The topic of immorality and moral disengagement comes hand in hand with academic dishonesty. We all know how cheating can be unfair to our honest peers: they often ‘lose out’ and take the position of ‘being at the bottom of the curve’. It’s easy to see why: when the majority cheats, this causes artificial inflation in scores. This consequently pushes up the median, and maximum score. Peers who don’t cheat might have a higher possibility of obtaining a lower score should they fail to perform as well as their counterparts who cheated.
In an attempt to fight the psychological discomfort upon hearing non-cheaters mention their less-than-desired grade, cheaters often rationalise their behaviour through self-justification such as: ‘I really needed to cheat because I was underprepared!’, or ‘It’s not my fault that those non-cheaters chose not to cheat! ’
Such acts of self-justification are disturbing for they perpetuate the never-ending cycle of cheating. They also run the risk of desensitizing and altering our moral compass. In the long run, we might even be conditioned to think that such behaviour is more than alright.
Such acts of self-justification are disturbing for they perpetuate the never-ending cycle of cheating. They also run the risk of desensitizing and altering our moral compass. In the long run, we might even be conditioned to think that such behaviour is more than alright.
Parting Words
Despite the seemingly convincing reasons that compel cheaters to cheat, I believe that as a whole, we students should actively combat the cultural impulse to get ahead at any cost. Instead of optimising the avoidance of failure, we should learn to accept our imperfections with grace and compassion. After all, we all have flaws and shortcomings—it’s just human. With that being said, it’s salient for us to practise forgiving ourselves for academic underperformance, instead of making up for it by cheating.
Instead of optimising the avoidance of failure, we should learn to accept our imperfections with grace and compassion. After all, we all have flaws and shortcomings—it’s just human.