I'm told that the prevalence and acceptance of cheating begins quite early on. China is highlighted in this article, but I wouldn't be surprised if this were common in other countries where cheating is accepted as "the way things are" as well. In my own experience, that was one of the most irritating things to teach students. Once they learned about the consequences of plagiarism in the university system in the U.S. and about the software used to detect plagiarism, most of them made a real effort to change. Honestly though, I could see how difficult it was for them to make the change though. In an environment where everyone does something to get ahead, it can be hard to poke one's head over the hedge to see why another system operates in the way that it does and the benefits that come from it.
Yes, this seems to be a cultural problem, not just a science problem. I fear that China will never clean up its pollution problem, because if they pass new regulations, all the local goveernment officials will just take bribes, and certify that the factories in their area are complying. My friend told me a great anecdote about being in China in a city that was experiencing an uptick in illegal garbage dumping in alleyways. So the government put up "no dumping" signs every so many feet in each alley. From then on, there was no trash directly in front of the signs, but if you were to walk 20 feet one way or the other, it was the same old. Not sure if he was embellishing or not, but it's a good story nonetheless.
I've seen something similar myself. When I was in Beijing for the Olymipcs, the locals were told to form lines, not to talk very loudly, not to spit, not to pick their noses and a whole lot of other things. I was eating noodles in a place with a white friend and as soon as he left, the volume increased to an incredible degree. There were guys sitting across tables from one another speaking at a volume I would use to get someone's attention 20 feet away. Oh the joys of being ambiguously brown.