Cheating, Lying, and Moral Reasoning by Religious and Secular High School Students

Abstract

The incidence of cheating and lying on an experimental measure was examined from a sample of high school students who attended either a religious or a secular (public) school. The Defining Issues Test was used to measure moral reasoning level. Religious and secular school students did not differ in moral reasoning level, and the groups evidenced similar levels of cheating and lying; 70% of the religious school students versus 79% of the secular school students cheated and/or lied on the measure. Level of moral reasoning was not correlated with behavior.