Our Centers for Ethics:
The Ethics of American Youth - 2008 data tables
November 2008 - Los Angeles, CA
Josephson Institute's 2008 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth is based on a survey of 29,760 students in public and private high schools across the United States. Click the questions below to view results. Or read the summary of results here.
More on the 2008 Report Card
• Summary report
• Results of all questions (pdf, 1200K)
• Gender/demographic breakdowns (pdf, 470K)
• Press release (pdf, 50K)
• Media coverage links
Previous survey reports
This report focuses on honesty and integrity. Additional reports, to be issued in the coming months, will address violence, drug use, and other issues.
Lying and cheating
- In personal relationships, trust and honesty are essential.
- In business and the workplace, trust and honesty are essential.
- In the real world, successful people do what they have to do to win, even if others consider it cheating.
- A person has to lie or cheat sometimes in order to succeed.
- I sometimes lie to save money.
- People who are willing to lie, cheat, or break the rules are more likely to succeed than people who are not.
- My parents/guardians would rather I cheat than get bad grades.
- It's important to me that people trust me.
- It's not worth it to lie or cheat because it hurts your character.
- In sports, if you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough.
- People should play by the rules even if it means they lose.
- How many times have you lied to a parent about something significant in the past year?
- How many times have you lied to a teacher about something significant in the past year?
- How many times have you copied an Internet document for a classroom assignment in the past year?
- How many times have you cheated during a test at school in the past year?
- How many times have you copied another's homework in the past year?
Stealing
- How many times have you stolen something from parents or relatives in the past year?
- How many times have you stolen something from a friend in the past year?
- How many times have you stolen something from a store in the past year?
General questions on ethics and values
- It's important for me to be a person with good character.
- Most adults in my life consistently set a good example of ethics and character.
- My parents/guardians always want me to do the ethically right thing, no matter what the cost.
- Being a good person is more important than being rich.
- When it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know.
- If people you know were asked to list the most ethical people they know, how many would put you on their list?
- How many times have you done things in violation of your religious beliefs in the past year?
- How many questions on this survey did you answer with complete honesty?
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