In 5 sentences, describe integrity in your own words, using the following excerpt as a guide. If you're a new student (or can think back to when you were), you probably remember being given some information about your school's academic honesty policies during the first few days of classes. This information likely addressed, among other things, the school's requirements for submitting original work, policies regarding cheating, and expectations of student behavior. In giving you this information, your school wasn't suggesting you'd cheat; rather, they merely wanted to inform you that they expect all students to act with a certain degree of integrity.

Integrity is a term used to describe a person's level of honesty, moral commitments, and willingness to do what's right. For example, we expect our doctors to be honest with us about diagnoses, won't try to prescribe medications we don't need, and will generally work in the best interest of our health and well-being. We expect this because, in most societies, doctors are perceived to be people of great integrity with strong moral compasses.

Conversely, if your doctor didn't have any integrity, he or she might be strongly influenced by drug companies or bribes and might talk you into getting tests or procedures you don't need. When this happens, society takes a dim view of that person—and in some cases legal charges are brought—because he or she was expected to act with integrity.
Let's review. In general, integrity is a word used to describe a person's commitment to honesty and a willingness to do what's right. For example, a person who abstains from cheating, lying, or stealing would be considered to be a person who acts with great integrity. In most societies, integrity is an important aspect of culture and contributes to the strength of a community.

In academic environments, for example, students are expected to avoid plagiarism and submit work that is entirely their own. Other areas where integrity is important include the legal and justice systems and politics. Despite its importance, though, universal definitions or understandings of integrity can be difficult to locate. This is often because the concept of integrity is a social construct, which is subjective and tends to change as societies and cultures evolve.