Attitudes Toward Cheating Scale (ATS)
EducationReliability: alpha 0.85–0.913 sample items
About this scale
A multi-item measure of student attitudes toward academic dishonesty, including cheating, plagiarism, and (more recently) AI-assisted unauthorized use. Important for academic-integrity research and policy evaluation.
Sample item(s)
“Cheating on a test is sometimes necessary.”
“I believe most students cheat at some point in college.”
“It is wrong to use ChatGPT to write a paper without disclosing it.”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.85–0.91. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Modern adaptations explicitly include AI-related items (Lee et al., 2024).
Source & citation
McCabe, D. L., Treviño, L. K., & Butterfield, K. D. (2001): Cheating in academic institutions: A decade of research. Ethics & Behavior, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 219–232.
McCabe, Treviño & Butterfield (2001): Cheating in academic institutions. E&B, 11(3), 219–232.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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