this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026
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Why do people want to cheat to win at sports?
Everyone else is doing it
If this is true, adapt the rules. Sports are allowed to change.
They want to be better, more, to grow
Internal drive. Important, good. Placing more value on this than on the sport, not so much.They want to be the best
Still not bad, from my perspective, because I feel this very deeply. I acknowledge that's not a valid reason, "I feel this because I feel this". It's not at all a universal feeling or experience. Emotion, not logic.They want to be better than everyone else
I swear this is different than the previous statement. Pride vs envy. Pride is good. Envy is bad.They can get away with it
Blame the refs, blame the sport, blame the fans, blame whatever it takes to disown the conscious choice to cheatThey have to because everyone else is cheating
The response to a lack of enforcement of the rules is not to break the same rule yourself; that just propagates the problem.The solution is to Eɴꜰᴏʀᴄᴇ the rules yourself. The rules no longer apply. There must be a Pᴇɴᴀʟᴛʏ. The Pᴇɴᴀʟᴛʏ is that THE RULES NO LONGER APPLY.
There must be a reminder of why the rules were put into place.
IF I DON'T CHEAT HE WILL
This is the most broken, problematic one. It's lashing out in fear. It's a complete misunderstanding of the purpose and benefits of sports.Cheating is fun
Folks like getting away with things. Some part of the brain produces happy chemicals. People chase happy chemicals. Practically an addiction.I hope someone, somewhere is finding this useful. I did. It was nice getting these thoughts recorded.
how someone can feel good about themselves after they win thru cheating
I have cheated, gotten away with it, and felt good about it. I have cheated, gotten caught, and felt bad about it. I have cheated, gotten away with it, and felt bad about it. I have cheated, gotten caught, and felt good about it.
I have lost a game when someone else cheated, and felt mad about it. I have gotten beat by a cheater, and been impressed by it.
I have lost when cheating would have let me win, and never been penalized, and regretted following the rules. I have lost, when cheating would have penalized me, and been proud that I didn't. I have cheated, gotten caught, and been proud that I took the red card to give my team the chance to win. I have watched others cheat and accept their penalty and still lost.
There's a ton going on. So many reasons, so many avenues, so much context. We can never truly know what's going on in someone else's head.
My personal drivers would be self/team/community pride, fear, and desire to be sneaky. My counters are respect for the game/other team/sport/rules/agreement/society, fear of getting caught, shame, and general lack of desire to put my success ahead of that of others.
These (and others) will have different weights from person to person. Nature and nurture both come into play.