Ethics and Cheating

Bella Ren is a senior double majoring in Quantitative Sciences and Psychology. She was awarded a Fall 2019 Independent Grant which he used to conduct research on Ethics under Dr. Adam Glynn. 

When rules are defined, violations of the rules follow. The concept of unethical behavior does not lack examples to illustrate in daily life. In addition to social and moral costs, unethical behaviors result in impacts that could hardly be measured by money or material standards. Many researchers looked at the effect of cheating in a variety of domains, spanning from economics to sports, and from academic exams to video games. The questions of why people cheat, when they cheat, and how they feel after cheating, have always been hotly discussed topics.

In my research supported by the URP grant, I am interested in coming up with a method to identify individual cheaters so that we could study their personality and behavioral traits. Using the method I proposed, I am also conducting experiments to investigate the cognitive mechanism behind an interesting type of cheating -- altruistic cheating, which is cheating for other people’s benefits. A specific question I try to answer via experiments is: if people cheat purely for others’ welfare (e.g., to increase anonymous donations to a charity organization), do they experience an increased level of self-perceived morality (i.e., feeling that they are more moral)? 

In my research, I only look at cheating for monetary incentives. However, the question I am interested in could be extended to contexts much broader than mere financial gains. In the real world, what is defined as “other people’s welfare” is very vague and challenging to measure objectively, especially when it is related to political or social welfare. As a result, controversial questions arise from people’s ethical decision making. For instance, if one believes that his/her actions could bring good to others in social aspects, is it worthy for he/she to break rules? How to evaluate the cost and benefits of his/her violation of rules, and how to judge whether this behavior is ethical or not? These are all questions that I hope to ask and answer eventually through my research initiatives.  

With the support from Emory undergraduate research grant and a grant from the Psi Chi International Honor Society of Psychology, I was able to collect a relatively large sample size from Amazon Mechanical Turk to look at my research questions. I am still in the stage of data collection, but I’ve been really enjoying the whole process of designing my study and carrying it out. I was able to work with faculty advisors from both the quantitative sciences department and the psychology department to approach my project from multiple perspectives. This experience helps me to better understand how we could employ rigorous quantitative methods and creative experimental designs to take a glimpse of some intricate and intriguing questions in the real world. In the process of conducting my research project and sharing my thoughts with others, I found it unexpected but exciting that many people share my curiosity and interest in the same topic. I think one thing really charming about research is its ability to connect people intellectually. I look forward to engaging in stimulating conversations with others by sharing my results at conferences!

Visit the Undergraduate Research Programs website to learn more about applying for Independent Research Grants.