For years I played doubles paddleball. Those who gathered consisted of a factory worker, a retired cop, a social work therapist, a catering hall manager, a park employee, a rabbi, a househusband, and an unemployed young man. The teams were arranged based on the order in which people arrived at the courts. All of us were evenly matched and, by and large, even-tempered. We had developed our own “park rules,” such as partners breaking up if they had won three games in a row.
The ethos of camaraderie and fairness shifted over time as most of the original group moved on and others predominated at the courts. Players now could choose who they wanted as their partner, which meant that a strong team could control center court for the better part of the day. This was but one indicator that the atmosphere had changed from playing for fun and companionship to winning for its own sake.
Once I was paired with a college engineering professor who was noted for consistently making (and even creating) calls in his favor. During our game he called an opponent’s ball out that was clearly inbounds. I sided with our opponents and told them so. He was angry with me and said, “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.” I avoided playing with or against him from then on.
Recently I was reminded of the cheater’s quip (which he had lifted from wrestler Eddie Guerrero) when I saw a slogan on the T-shirt worn by a college coach that read, “I only know how to win.” I would hope that he knows more than that, such as how to treat his charges respectfully, the importance of good sportsmanship, and that education is about more than winning.
I am afraid that what students learn from the professor and the college coach is that cheating is the best way to get what you want, that success depends as much on cunning as skill, and that concern for your character is secondary to winning.
A study in the British Journal of Management found that the extent to which people cheat in areas of work, sport, and education “is a function of their dominant achievement goals in these particular settings.” They found that those whose primary goal was performance cheated more than those whose main goal was mastery. In other words, if the goal is to improve oneself, cheating is less likely to occur than if the goal is measured against others. When the goal is self-improvement, there is no incentive to cheat; when the goal is to outperform others, cheating is incentivized.
I am reminded of a video that went viral in 2012. It showed two cross-country runners nearing the finish line. Abel Mutai, a gold-winner medalist, erroneously thought he had crossed the finish line and started walking towards the sideline when second-place Ivan Fernandez closed in on him. Fernandez shouted to Mutai to keep running, but the Kenyan runner didn’t know Spanish, so he paid no attention. Fernandez then pushed his competitor over the line so Mutai could finish in first place. Asked by a reporter why he did that, Fernandez said, “I didn’t deserve to win it. I did what I had to do. He was the rightful winner.”
High schools say they don’t promote cheating but in fact they may, by emphasizing class standing and steering students into the “best” colleges and universities while saying they don’t want cheaters yet valorizing national rankings and successful varsity teams. Businesses say they want honest employees but pit one against another for pay and promotion.
Schools and businesses are supported by the public because they serve the common good. Schools are meant to educate and instill societal values; businesses are meant to add to the general welfare by providing goods and services. There are rules in schools and laws aimed at business to curb cheating. Cheating can give an advantage to an individual or group but its overall effect is destructive.
There is good reason why there are strong secular and religious norms against cheating: It is a form of lying. Both personal and social relations are sustained by trust, which is undermined by dishonesty.
In the long run, valuing integrity over performance leads to success that is sustainable and worth having.