Perceived Anonymity and Cheating in an Online Experiment

Abstract

This paper presents the outcomes of an online coin-tossing experiment evaluating cheating behavior among Ukrainian students. Over 1,500 participants were asked to make ten coin tosses and were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups tossing coins (1) online, (2) manually, or (3) having the choice between tossing manually or online. The study outcomes suggest that students are more inclined to cheat when they perceive the coin toss to be more “private.” Moreover, the students’ attitudes toward corruption appear to matter for the extent of their cheating, while socio-demographic characteristics were less important.