We investigated the incidence of self-reported excuse making by undergraduates, including the extent of legitimate and fraudulent excuses, the nature of these excuses, causes and consequences of excuse making, and emotional reactions to having given fraudulent excuses. Fraudulent excuse making was reported by 68% of the 261 students who completed questionnaires. Issues involved in discriminating fraudulent from legitimate excuses are discussed along with ways to reduce the frequency of fraudulent excuses.
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