Reducing academic cheating through growth mindset: an intervention study and a mechanism analysis

Abstract

Academic dishonesty remains a persistent challenge in higher education, highlighting the need for scalable and cost-effective interventions that target internal motivation. Building on mindset theory, the present research tests the impact of a brief growth-mindset intervention on exam cheating and examines the mindset meaning system as a hypothesized mechanism. Growth mindset refers to beliefs about the malleability of one’s abilities, whereas the mindset meaning system refers to the broader system of meanings organized by individuals’ mindsets, shaping how they interpret effort, performance, and failure in achievement contexts. Study 1 employed a randomized controlled trial (N = 120) to evaluate the effect of a single-session growth mindset intervention on cheating behavior during a subsequent test. Study 2 used a cross-sectional survey (N = 475) to assess whether the growth mindset indirectly relates to cheating through the mindset meaning system. Results from Study 1 showed that the intervention significantly enhanced growth mindset levels and reduced cheating behavior compared to the control group. In Study 2, analysis of indirect effects revealed that growth mindset was not directly associated with cheating but had an indirect effect via the mindset meaning system. These findings suggest that promoting a growth mindset may serve as a promising strategy for reducing academic cheating.