Cheating

Cheating involves an act of deception, fraud, or betrayal that often unfairly advantages the cheater over others. It can take many forms. The variety of behaviors it entails, and the wide range of contexts in which it occurs, is as diverse as the human species itself. From infidelity in the bedroom to malfeasance in the boardroom, people betray, trick, deceive, and defraud each other (and sometimes themselves) in a number of creative (as well as mundane) ways and places. This entry focuses on academic cheating and will describe several important facets or subcomponents related to the psychology of cheating.