Students Cheat More in Disliked Classes.

One of the tactics that discourages cheating may not work as well in courses that college students particularly dislike, a study at Ohio State University, Columbus, has found. Previous research suggests instructors who emphasize mastering the content in their classes encounter less cheating than those who push students to get good grades, but this study found emphasizing mastery is not related as strongly to lower rates of cheating in classes that students list as their most disliked. Those in disliked classes were equally as likely to cheat, regardless of whether the instructors emphasized mastery or good grades.

The factor that best predicted whether a student would cheat in a disliked class was a personality trait: a high need for sensation, indicates study coauthor Eric Anderman, professor of educational psychology. "People with a high need for sensation are risk-takers. If you enjoy taking risks, and you don't like the class, you...