Influence of Sleep Deprivation and Moral Disengagement on Cheating Behavior

Abstract

In this study, I investigated the effects of sleep deprivation on cheating behavior. I proposed that sleep deprivation results in cognitive depletion. Cognitive depletion should impair an individual's ability to reason against unethical impulses such as cheating. In addition, I proposed that moral disengagement as a personality trait affects the extent to which sleep deprivation is linked to cheating. Results from a laboratory study show that sleep deprivation is indeed associated with higher rates of cheating behavior. Additionally, this relationship is stronger among individuals who are higher in moral disengagement. These findings provide support towards the interactionist and person-situation models of ethical decision making. Both of these theoretical models state that situational antecedents and individual differences interact to influence outcomes of ethical behavior.