Have you ever caught your partner cheating and wondered what they truly gained from it? Was it money, status, or just the thrill of getting away with it? Interestingly, a new study suggests that many people cheat not for material rewards but simply to feel better about themselves.
Led by Sara Dommer from Pennsylvania State University, the research reveals that their action is often fuelled by a desire for self-enhancement rather than external benefits.
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The psychological reward of cheating
The study challenges the widely accepted belief that cheating is driven by external benefits. Instead, it highlights a more personal and internal stimulation—enhanced self-perception. This means that individuals engage in dishonest behaviour for the psychological boost that comes with it.
To support this theory, researchers conducted four different studies across various domains, including calorie counting, IQ testing, language puzzles, and financial literacy assessments.
Key findings from the study
Calorie counting study
Involving 288 undergraduate students, this study explored how individuals estimate their calorie intake when eating restaurant meals. When students lacked specific calorie information, they consistently underestimated their consumption, allowing themselves to believe they were making healthier choices.
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IQ test
Conducted with 195 Amazon Mechanical Turk workers, this test examined cheating behaviour when answers were subtly revealed after a few seconds. Those who had access to the answers scored higher and, more interestingly, felt more confident in their intellectual abilities for future tests—even though their improved performance was due to cheating.
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Anagram puzzle test
Participants were asked to solve scrambled word puzzles, with some unknowingly receiving the correct answer after three minutes. Those who received the answers subconsciously attributed their success to their problem-solving skills, backing the idea that cheating can create a false sense of competence.
Financial literacy study
Unlike the previous experiments, this test introduced a disclaimer that prompted participants to question their accuracy. As a result, the majority of participants opted for honest self-assessment rather than self-enhancement, demonstrating that external accountability can reduce cheating behaviour.
What did it reveal?
Sara Dommer sums up the findings, stating, "I found that people do cheat when there are no extrinsic incentives like money or prizes but intrinsic rewards, like feeling better about yourself. Participants in the cheat group engaged in diagnostic self-deception and attributed their performance to themselves."
This research sheds light on the subtle psychological mechanisms behind dishonesty. It suggests that people often fool themselves into believing their success is genuine, even when it's not. The study also raises important questions about how self-perception influences moral decision-making and whether increased self-awareness can curb such tendencies.
Ultimately, these findings highlight that cheating is not always about material gains—it’s often about self-image, confidence, and the human desire to see ourselves in a more positive light.
