The Relationship Between Tolerance For Ambiguity And Students Propensity To Cheat On A College Exam

Abstract

Businesses in the United States are being ravaged internally for a total of up to $400 billion yearly by white-collar crime (Martin, 1998).   Fraud, the culprit, is defined as, “deceit; trickery; cheating” (Webster’s New World dictionary, 1978).  This phenomenon knows no bounds, has no feelings, respects no one; and its perpetrators are described as the “greatest threat to businesses of all sizes” by Mark Simmons, a New York-based auditor with 20 years’ experience of fighting fraud (Applegate, 1998).  This exploratory study is aimed at gaining a greater understanding of the psychological consistency of these perpetrators, who remain a constant threat to business education.