More than half and up to 80 percent of college students cheat at one time or another. And some are serial cheaters. As shocking as that is, it's not news. What is news is who doesn't cheat.

While many studies have examined cheating among college students, new research at The Ohio State University looks at the issue from a different perspective: identifying those students who are the least likely to cheat.

Who doesn't cheat? Students who score high on measures of courage, empathy and honesty are less likely than others to have ever cheated or intend to cheat in the future. Call them Pollyannas if you want. Students who don't cheat are also far less likely to believe that their classmates and friends regularly commit academic dishonesty--even though they are doing just that!

People who don't cheat "have a more positive view of others," said Sara Staats, co-author of the research and professor of psychology at Ohio State University's Newark campus. "They don't see as much difference between themselves and others." In contrast, those who scored lower on courage, empathy and honesty--and who are more likely to report that they have cheated--see other students as cheating much more often than they do, rationalizing their own behavior.

They're academic heroes: "Students who don't cheat seem to be in the minority and have plenty of opportunities to see their peers cheat and receive the rewards with little risk of punishment," Staats explained. "We see avoiding cheating as a form of everyday heroism in an academic setting."

Staats and her team arrived at these conclusions based on two separate studies, one with 383 students and the other with 73 students, all of whom attended Ohio State's Newark campus. The students completed questionnaires that measured their bravery, honesty and empathy. The researchers separated those who scored in the top half and contrasted them with those in the bottom half. Those who scored in the top half, whom the researchers called "academic heroes," were less likely to have reported cheating in the past 30 days and the last year compared to the non-heroes. They also indicated they would be less likely to cheat in the next 30 days in one of their classes. The academic heroes also reported they would feel more guilt if they cheated compared to the non-heroes.

"The heroes didn't rationalize cheating the way others did, they didn't come up with excuses and say it was OK because lots of other students were doing it," Staats said, noting that one reason to study cheating at colleges and universities is to try to figure out ways to reduce academic dishonesty. The results from this research suggest a good target audience for anti-cheating messages.

When the researchers asked students if they intended to cheat in the future, 47 percent said they did not intend to cheat, but 24 percent agreed or strongly agreed that they would cheat. The remaining 29 percent indicated that they were uncertain whether or not they would cheat. "These 29 percent are like undecided voters. They would be an especially good focus for intervention," Staats said. "Our results suggest that interventions may have a real opportunity to influence at least a quarter of the student population."

The research was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.

--From the Editors at Netscape