Stronger relationships among students result in a peer situation where pressure from the peer group encourages more cheating than in an environment where strong relationships are built with faculty.

The author provides evidence of the power of peer pressure as opposed to individual factors such as demographics or psychological tendency by means of data from students who live with their peers as opposed to those who live in a relatively isolated setting. She for example cites evidence to the effect that affiliation with a sorority or fraternity tends to increase the likelihood of cheating. The relationships that students develop with their peers also include the development of a common norm that may or may not be concomitant with the general norms of the institution. Hence, the student is more likely to adhere to the friendship norm than the more general institutional one.

Forming peer groups on campus (Hutton, 2006, p....
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