Michael A. Vandehey

College Cheating: A Twenty-Year Follow-Up and the Addition of an Honor Code.

This study examines university students’ behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs related to academic dishonesty using data collected in 1984, 1994, and 2004. We are unaware of any other research program that has used the same instrument to monitor academic dishonesty at the same institution over such a long period of time. Several authors have critiqued the academic dishonesty literature, questioning the validity of comparing historical and recent studies (Brown & Emmett, 2001; Graham, Monday, O’Brien, & Steffen, 1994; Whitley, 1998; Whitley, Nelson, & Jones, 1999) since different studies have measured academic dishonesty in many different ways (Vowell and Chen, 2004). Whitley et al. (1999) stated, “Some of this variance [in reported cheating incidence rates], perhaps a substantial degree, could be due to the wide range of measures used to assess both cheating behavior and attitudes...In the case of both attitudes and behavior the studies used too many different operational definitions to allow assessment of the relationship between operational definition and effect size” (pg. 667). Brown and Emmett (2001) have also questioned studies that report high levels of college cheating, suggesting that these studies might simply be defining cheating in broader terms. In the current study, students were defined as “cheaters” if they reported cheating at some time in their college career on quizzes, exams, or assignments, however they defined those terms. All others were defined as “noncheaters.” This same rule was also followed in 1984 and 1994. In 1984, we found that 54% of students admitted to cheating and we characterized these cheaters as immature, lacking educational commitment, and likely to use neutralizing attitudes to lessen guilt associated with cheating (Haines, Diekhoff, LaBeff, & Clark, 1986). Cheating increased in 1994 to 61%. This increase was significant and suggested that academic dishonesty was on the rise. Cheaters continued to neutralize more than noncheaters; however, both cheaters and noncheaters evidenced less neutralizing than the 1984 cohort. Even as cheating increased, neutralizing decreased, indicating to us that academic dishonesty had become so normative that it was no longer viewed by students as a deviant behavior that needed to be justified (Diekhoff et al., 1996). The recent literature has reported similarly high rates of overall academic dishonesty, with reports ranging from 52-90% (Genereux & McLeod, 1995; Graham et al., 1994; Lester & Diekhoff, 2002; McCabe & Bowers, 1994; Vowell and Chen, 2004). Academic dishonesty percentages are lower if one looks at behavior within a specific semester. For example, Jordan (2001) found that only 31% of students cheated on an exam or paper during one semester. In addition, 9% of the students in

Online Mate-Retention Tactics on Facebook Are Associated With Relationship Aggression

A measure of Facebook-related mate-retention tactics was developed to investigate the relationship between online behaviors and intimate partner aggression. One hundred and seventy-seven young adults (65 men, 112 women) completed questionnaires that included measures of online and offline mate-retention tactics, Facebook jealousy, Facebook surveillance, and intimate partner violence. A factor analysis yielded four subscales for the Facebook Mate-Retention Tactic Inventory (FMRTI): Care and Affection, Jealousy and Surveillance, Possession Signals, and Punishment of Infidelity Threat. The FMRTI total scores were positively correlated with Facebook jealousy, Facebook surveillance, and use of offline mate-retention tactics. The Jealousy and Surveillance subscale uniquely predicted intimate partner psychological and physical aggression over and above existing measures. Facebook mate-retention tactics fully mediated the relation between Facebook jealousy and both intimate partner psychological and physical aggression. The current study provides preliminary evidence for conceptualizing Facebook as an environment for the use of mate-retention tactics that have real-life implications for intimate partner violence.

The Effects of External Pressures and Competitiveness on Characteristics of Eating Disorders and Body Dissatisfaction

The authors assessed the relationships between external pressures to excel, competitiveness, eating disorder characteristics, and body dissatisfaction. Participants consisted of 78 male and 85 female undergraduate students at a southwestern university. Participants were split between general and athletic samples. Participants completed the Socially Prescribed Competitiveness Survey. Within the general sample, external pressures and competitiveness were both positively correlated with eating disorder characteristics and body dissatisfaction. Within the athletic sample, competitiveness was positively correlated with body dissatisfaction. For the athletic samples women, external pressures were positively correlated with eating disorder characteristics. Although the athletic sample received more external pressure, they showed fewer eating disorder characteristics and body dissatisfaction. Differences are explained by considering gender, body mass index, dieting and exercising behaviors, and motivations to exercise and diet.

Creativity and dementia: Does artistic activity affect well-being beyond the art class?

The Alzheimer’s Association’s Memories in the Making® (MIM) art activity program is intended to enhance the well-being of individuals who are living with dementia. Previous evaluations of MIM have found that participants show benefits on several well-being domains measured by the Greater Cincinnati Chapter Well-Being Observation Tool©. The current study extended those findings by looking for evidence of carry-over effects beyond the temporal boundaries of MIM sessions. Additionally, this study evaluated key psychometric qualities of the assessment instrument. Seventy-six MIM participants with middle- to late-stage dementia were evaluated by interns and care facility staff at the beginning, middle and end of a 12-week MIM program. Interns focused on behavior within MIM sessions and staff rated functioning outside MIM sessions. Staff reported no significant changes in resident well-being across the 12-week program. Interns reported significant improvements from the beginning to middle and end of the program on five well-being domains. Psychometric analyses of the Greater Cincinnati Chapter Well-Being Observation Tool© identified weaknesses in inter-rater reliability and found that the instrument measures two orthogonal factors – interpreted as ‘Well-Being’ and ‘Ill-Being’ – not the seven domains claimed. Quantitative evidence for the effectiveness of MIM is ambiguous, but anecdotal observations indicate that the program is beneficial for some participants, if only fleetingly.

Recommendations for risk-management practices

When thinking of risk-management behaviors and avoiding client complaints, many psychologists can quickly identify the big issues: sex with a client, breach of confidentiality, and child-custody cases. Unfortunately, anyone may have a complaint filed against them, and even an ethical practitioner may run into trouble if other standards of practice are not followed. This article makes recommendations for day-to-day risk-management strategies.

Understanding Differences in Mental Health History and Behavioral Choices in a Community Sample of Individuals with and without Body Modifications

ABSTRACT This study investigated the differences in mental health history and social, health, alcohol and substance, and sexual behaviors of individuals with and without body modification in a community sample. Previous research primarily focused on negative behavioral and psychological correlates of body modification practices in college student, juvenile delinquent, inpatient, and incarcerated populations. This tendency does not take into account changes in the demographics and motivations of individuals who obtain body modifications in the last two decades. The Community Body Modification Checklist was developed based on previous studies; reliability and validity for the measure were established using Cronbach’s alpha and factor analysis. The results indicated that individuals with body modifications were not more likely to engage in risky behaviors or report a history of mental health problems when compared to non-modified persons; however, they were more likely to engage in social and health behaviors. These findings may be best explained by the body modification community becoming diversified by the middle class whose meanings, motivations, and usage of tattoos and piercings are unique.