In a Society Confused About Honesty, a Growing Number of Americans Think It's Ok to Cheat
Boston Herald
Lauren Beckham Falcone
September 25, 2000

Truth be told, honesty is a tricky thing. Like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder. One man's mortal sin is another man's day at the office.
Is eating the weigh-by-the-pound Raisinets while grocery shopping the same as giving your father insider stock tips? Is not telling the cashier she gave you a $20 instead of a $10 bill equal to cheating on your taxes? Is kissing as bad as copulation when it's with a stranger and you're married?
One out of every four adults in the United States thinks it's OK to lie to get ahead. Some 80 percent of honors students admit to cheating. Even our commander in chief has a skewed vision of infidelity. What exactly is Clinton's definition of ``is,'' anyway?
The Boston Herald reported this year that 8 to 20 percent of drivers fly through the Mass Turnpike's Fast Lane without paying tolls. In a 1994 University of Chicago study, about 25 percent of men and 12 percent of women said they've been unfaithful to their spouse. The IRS admits losing more than $195 billion a year due to tax fraud.
It seems our nation has a growing problem with ethics.
``Everyone's cheated in some way or another,'' said a 42-year-old construction worker from Boston, who, like most everyone else interviewed for this story, declined to give his name. ``Businessmen are scam artists. Half the people on the Fortune 500 list is a cheat. It's an everyday thing.''
Lying about your age. How much you make. Whether your spouse looks fat. You'd be hard-pressed to make it through a full day without a little fib or two. And even the whoppers - stealing someone's idea, cheating on tests or taxes, padding your expense report - isn't below a goodly amount of folks.
All of which begs the question - why are we so dishonest?
Robert Dipboye, chair of the psychology department at Rice University in Houston, believes there are five general reasons people are dishonest:
Need, for good grades, say, or money to pay the electric bill, is perhaps the most logical reason people lie or cheat. Dipboye says opportunity is another motivator: If people think they can get away with cheating on a take-home test or sneaking into a movie without paying, they'll do it.
Dissatisfaction and mistreatment also play into dishonesty.
``Some people are dissatisfied with their lives or their work, and stealing, some argue, or cheating, can lift morale. For some, cheating is a game, a thrill,'' Diboye said. ``Others cheat or lie or steal because they feel as though things are unequitable, like they'll take towels from the hotel that charges too much, or steal from the employer who won't give them a raise.''
Dipboye added that most people cheat simply because others do.
``If your peers cheat in school, you might be more apt to,'' he said. ``If the managers lie on their expenses, you might want to, too. And they don't think it's bad.''
Which is precisely what Jason of Boston thinks.
``It's only cheating when you get caught,'' said the 22-year-old, who wasn't above eyeing another student's test during high school and thinks dishonesty is hardly a black-and-white issue. ``There are degrees of lying. Sometimes it's for the best.''
No way, said Patricia Keith-Spiegel, a Ball State University professor who developed a CD-ROM that teaches college cheaters (those who have been caught, that is) that cheating is wrong.
``Never underestimate the power of rationalization,'' she said. ``Humans have an amazing ability to be able to justify their own actions. And it's funny, people who lie and cheat will be very disdainful of those whom they witness lying or cheating. It's a great paradox. People want others to behave honestly.''
In fact, we require it. Consider the 1999 Gallup poll that found 80 percent of Americans wanted the next president to have good moral character. Yet 20 percent of parents polled by U.S. News and World Report think it's OK to do their child's homework for them, and 25 percent of adults think lying is all right if it helps you get ahead.
A 32-year-old Boston man said he would lie to get ahead, but he wouldn't want to be friends with a dishonest person.
``How could you trust someone who lies?'' he asked.
Then there's the group of suburban Boston teenagers we talked to, who admitted to cheating on exams, but said they would be profoundly ashamed if they found out their parents cheated on their taxes.
Still, some can forgive the culture of cheating.
``It's human nature, animal nature, even nature nature, to take the easiest route,'' said Tom Williams, a publicist from Manhattan. ``The only reason not to cheat is that if everyone did, society wouldn't work.''
Keith-Spiegel believes our society is already struggling.
``The president, rock stars, sports figures, these people have done bad things and many of them haven't had to pay for it,'' said Keith-Spiegel. ``Kids see that you can be unethical and still be famous, and a millionaire and get away with quite a bit.''
Unhappiness, Keith-Spiegel, is what propels people to be unethical.
``I think we are very unhappy,'' she said. ``As a society. Ethics really means the good life. And life is a heck of a lot more fun and less stressful if you play fair. There are lots of good, decent, honest folks out there,'' she said. ``But we have a ways to go.''

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This news story is not produced by the American Psychological Association and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the association.