The Impact of Performance Goals on Cheating Depends on How Performance Is Evaluated

Abstract

We investigated how evaluation standards employed in performance tests affect the impact of performance goals (here focused on appearance) on academic cheating. Thereby, we assumed that appearance goals would lead to increased cheating only if students’ performance was presumably evaluated based on results rather than on the strategies they applied to solve questions. A total of 169 university students (68.6% female) participated in an experimental design with 2 (induced appearance goals vs. no goal induction) × 2 (process-based vs. result-based evaluation standards) between-subject conditions. We assessed cheating using a confederate student observing the participants’ behaviors and by measuring whether participants reported that they solved unsolvable questions. Confirming our hypotheses, we found that students were more likely to cheat only when appearance goals were induced and the evaluation standard focused on the results. This new knowledge helps explain the mixed findings regarding how performance goals affect cheating and provides opportunities to reduce cheating in high-stakes testing situations.