Thanks, Mary! It seems when it comes to respect and the consequences of actions, when it comes to cheating, I believe the fundamental problem is that people don’t think they will get caught. So, they think there will be no consequences.

I don’t think anybody can say they don’t know a lot of people who have cheated for various reasons. Paradoxically, recent research has actually shown that this could actually be exacerbating the problem. A recent study showed that the more we are around people who have cheated and the more cheating there is the more acceptable we seem to perceive it as and so the more likely we become to commit it.

That would mean paradoxically because cheating is becoming so widespread we perhaps are becoming more accepting of it and by doing so, are seeing it as less of a disrespectful act and thus less of an act that will bring devastating consequences, especially if we get away with it.

Of course, this is recent research so it could be debunked, but it is an interesting thought process.

This is the study if you’re interested:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-022-02392-7