writing.markfullmer.com

What types of people cheat? Is there even a specific type of person who is more likely to cheat than the rest of the population? According to the President of Teaching That Makes Sense, Steve Peha, it’s all a myth. He believes, “we are all inclined to cheat when the pressure to achieve good grades is greater than what we think we can do on our own in a given situation.” With that said is it still possible that certain people are more vulnerable to that pressure than others. Some of those people may be suffering from mental illnesses which could then intensify that pressure therefore making them more susceptible to academic dishonesty.

Students' GPA and Self Worth
As humans we all strive for acceptance whether we would like to admit it or not. Unfortunately this need for approval has been drilled into us as since we were children. We are programmed with this idea that acceptance leads to a higher self-esteem which ultimately leads to ones happiness and total well being. This is prevalent everywhere in Western culture from a teacher giving its students gold stars in grade school for doing well to a boss awarding his/her employer a bonus for their hard work. Could an individual with depression exuding low self esteem feel pressures building so high on themselves that they choose to cheat? Some scholars believe that students create their “self worth” or”self concept” based upon their GPA. If so much is riding on this then how would one not expect a student suffering from depression to feel they must reach that high GPA so that they feel worthy in this world.

Can Depression Lead to Cheating?
According to psychologyinfo.com, people suffering from depression experience “problems with concentration and decision making" and feel as if they cant do anything well. Some people experience moments of manic behavior with their depression which is classified as bipolar disorder.

Within a bipolar persons manic state they feel as if they are high, "ideas are fast. . .like shooting stars you follow until brighter ones appear. . .all shyness disappears. Your marrow is infused with unbelievable feeling of ease, power, euphoria . . . you can do anything." (First person account, psychologyinfo.com) When looking at these two extreme mood states one could see a correlation with academic cheating. By this you are able to see how a person suffering from this disorder could fall victim to their moods, if unmedicated, and essentially cheat.

When in the hypomania state the person feels elated and capable of anything. All inhibitions out the door, in a way this state is similar to one area of Freud's theory of the three agencies of the mind, the id, ego, and superego. If we were all to be without the ego and superego we would in a way be equivalent to how a person in a manic state feels.

A Freudian Theory of Cheating: The Irrational Id
Take a classroom of individuals running on their id and you will have a group of people focusing strictly on instinct demanding satisfaction immediately no guilt at all since the other agencies of the mind are absent. In the manic state of the mind logic is almost out the door and you are running strictly on immediate satisfaction, finding it anyway you can. So what is to hold a manic individual back from getting that immediate answer and satisfaction of successfully completing their test or assignment? Even in the depressive state when one feels as if they are "virtually useless" that individual needs that much more reassurance and the way our world is run they need to succeed in something to get that gratification so why not cheat?

Two chemistry students are matched together for a project in class, one being a clumsy girl whose lab attire consists of ski goggles and a Banana Republic coat and the other being a perfectionist with strange rituals and superstitions. The perfectionist, Tracy, exudes all the typical characteristics of an obsessive compulsive individual. In class she becomes obsessive over the order and form in which they do their project, neatly ordering each test tube by size and color before they can begin. The other student, Lori brings over a packet of power for their project which is numbered 13 and Tracy, in all seriousness, refuses to use it deeming it bad luck which will prevent them from receiving an A. As they go through their project Lori keeps running into odd problems with Lori who refuses to veer from the directions of their lab although in their circumstance it would have given them more precise lab results. Once Tracy realizes that Lori was right and they are getting incorrect lab results due to a diluted stock solution she decided to redo the entire project again based upon her "laminated index cards outlining each step of the procedure. . . coded in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet to mirror the visible spectrum." (Seven Deadly Sins: Bad Chemistry) Finally Tracy Cracks and with "maniacal intensity" begins to make up a complete new graph. She seems to be on the "verge of hyperventilating, caught between not wanting to cheat yet needing to get an A. She's creating her own data in a furious frenzy of forgery." Tracy's obsessive compulsive behavior drove her to botch the entire lab due to her perfectionism and ultimately cheat just to receive that A to give her that letter of acceptance and self worth.

( after this I will go into more detail on OCD then a paragraph on Anxiety followed by my conclusion!)