Newsfeed
Printer-Friendly ModeCheating motivations analyzed at lecture
February 27, 2006 —
Implementing changes in schools, jobs and society at large can help Americans overcome dishonesty, said David Callahan during his lecture concerning a "cheating culture" in American society.
Callahan, Princeton Ph.D. and author of "The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead," argued that three "Great Temptations" are forcing Americans to cheat, lie, and deceive, but insisted that the problem is only temporary on Wednesday in the Rhea Miller Recital Hall.
The first "Great Temptation" Callahan mentioned was the rewards of success. Callahan explained that this is because the hyper-competitive American economy has promulgated a "winner take-all society," wherein celebrities, athletes, corporate executives, and other financially successful people that go to great lengths to achieve success often do so immorally. Their success influences everyone, in a sense legitimizing cheating and dishonesty. He recounted the steroid abuse problem in baseball as an example.
The second temptation was fear. Callahan quoted a student that he had interviewed, reading, "...good grades make the difference between being a janitor and going to medical school." Callahan argued that the desire for financial security influences academic integrity.
The third "temptation" was not a temptation in and of itself, but rather a state that encourages dishonesty: the "watchdogs" - agencies and organizations that monitor cheating - are, as he put it, "asleep." He used academia as an example and cited a sobering statistic: "44 percent of faculty members have seen cheating and done nothing about it."
Callahan went on to assert that agencies such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - which oversees the finance sector of the economy - have been securely crippled, referencing the Enron and Tyco scandals as evidence.
However, Callahan said he remains optimistic. He maintained that the situation is not hopeless; that if sweeping changes are realized, Americans can come to live in an honest, fairer society.
"I don't believe the situation is permanent," he said.
He began by arguing that change in the work place and in schools is essential and that the "watchdogs" monitoring academic and professional integrity need to be rigorous. Making the workplace and the school system as close to inculpable as possible is the first important step in creating a more honest society, Callahan said. He claimed that many students and professionals take the issue of integrity lightly.
"I don't see cheating as in issue of 'whatever,'" he said. Callahan made use of some examples, stating that drug tests should be vigorous, the "watchdogs" need to be active, and academic integrity should be enforced.
He then argued that change must be in society at large, insisting specifically that known cheaters be publicly punished and that big money "gets out" of democracy, allowing everyone to have a say in how the rules are made - not just those with significant power and influence.
"If the rules were seen as more fair, people would cheat less," he concluded.
Finally, Callahan emphasized self-discipline and personal responsibility. He affirmed that the reasons for resisting dishonesty need to be self-made; that one can create happiness not by achieving illegitimate success, but by utilizing "signature strengths" - by indulging in activities that one exceeds at.
"We need to realize that we're all creating a world in which our children will live in, and we should attempt to make that world as decent as possible," he said.
After the lecture, Callahan fielded questions from the many attendees. One student in attendance asked whether he had documented more cheating cases in larger or smaller campuses. Callahan answered that smaller campuses cheat less, liberal arts schools experience less cheating, and that schools with strong honor codes and/or a greater emphasis on academic integrity will endure less cheating as a matter of course.
He added that a possible reason that cheating has become increasingly prevalent in the collegiate arena is because "...college has become the new high school. Most people just don't want to be there."
Another student questioned Callahan on the role of the nation's leaders in regards to the issue. Callahan responded by noting that discussions of "values" in the public sphere are severely narrow and that the approach public figures take to questions of value is usually self-limited to exclude everything but abortion, homosexual marriage, drug use, and teenage pregnancy.
"Real conversation can't occur unless the dialogue is broadened to include envy, greed, materialism and academic integrity," he insisted.
Callahan proceeded to answer more questions, responding to a student's inquiry about the supposed decline in religiosity in America. After mentioning that religious schools have reported slightly higher rates of cheating than secular institutions, he noted that "religious faith ... is often not a good enough defense of integrity."