Culture, Self-Orientation, and Reward Structure Effects: Measuring Cheating Behaviors in China and the USA

Abstract

The research presented examines the roles of nationality, self-orientation, and reward conditions on students' willingness to cheat on a test linked to small financial rewards. Two country cultures are examined with China representing a collectivist culture and the United States representing an individualist culture.

A self-construal measurement survey was administered in the first part of the study to examine dominant self-orientation (interdependent versus independent). Next, a between-subject experiment was conducted to measure cheating behavior both when rewards for performance are shared by the team and when rewards for performance are just for the individual. The results suggest that group incentives encourage more cheating behavior than individual incentives in both cultures. However, examining the role of individual self-orientation allowed us to observe differences in cheating behavior both within cultures and between cultures.

Keywords: cheating, dishonesty, collectivist, individualist, China, USA, cross-cultural, experiments, interdependent, independent, self-orientation, reward structures

JEL Classification: D11, D12, D70, I20, O57, P50, Z10