Purpose: Educators are raising ethical concerns over the use of ChatGPT in schools. They have implemented various strategies to minimize its use, particularly by labeling ChatGPT-produced work as plagiarism. However, the use of ChatGPT among students is still on the rise. Our study aims to find the behavioral motivation behind students' increased use of ChatGPT. Design/methodology/approach: We use PLS-SEM to analyze survey responses from 250 participants in a liberal arts university in the USA. Findings: Students' self-congruency influences their attitude and behavioral intention toward ChatGPT. Students use ChatGPT because they find a higher similarity between their personality and the persona depicted by ChatGPT. So, educators must consider creative assignments that cannot be solved using ChatGPT because any other deterrence will not minimize students' use of ChatGPT. Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research to incorporate students' behavioral motivation and integrate self-congruency to find the antecedents of increased use of ChatGPT in the education sector.