Self-Deluded -- But Comfortable

Did you see the story about the incidence of cheating among high school students? Over a hundred thousand students were surveyed (and promised complete anonymity).

• 26 percent of girls and 35 percent of boys admitted to stealing from a store within the past year.
• 20 percent stole from a friend, and 23 percent from a parent.
• 64 percent cheated on a test in the past year (38 percent cheated two or more times).
• 36 percent used the Internet for plagiary.

But -- get this -- 93 percent were satisfied with their own ethics and character. 77 percent believed that "when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know."

This is a fine example of the kind of norming Tom Vanderbilt discussed in his book Traffic, discussed in an earlier post. An injunctive norm is what you should do; a descriptive norm is what you see other people doing (or believe other people are doing). And the descriptive norm has more weight for most people.

Perhaps I should find some some comfort in the fact that 23 percent stole from a parent, and exactly 23 percent did not claim to do the right thing more than most people. So -- assuming the same set of students makes up both percentages -- perhaps those students are at least somewhat self-aware.

This doesn't account for the 93 percent who are satisfied with their own ethics -- despite a pretty high incidence of theft, and a very high incidence of cheating.

Oh, well. At least they have their Bic Softgel pens to make cheating more comfortable.