A study investigated the psychology of 'academic whistleblowing'—specifically, whether students would report a peer they witnessed cheating on an online examination.

Participants were invited to a university computer lab to take an invigilated practice exam. A student confederate sitting next to the participant conspicuously opened a notes folder on their phone to copy answers, which was strictly forbidden by the rules.

There were three experimental conditions:

• The confederate was a stranger and actively asked the participant to keep quiet about the cheating.
• The confederate was a close friend of the participant and actively asked them to keep quiet.
• The confederate was a stranger and cheated silently without saying anything to the participant.