engleski

Determinants of academic dishonesty among students

Since previous research has found a high frequency of academic cheating among students, it seems important to investigate certain correlates and causes of academic dishonesty in order to prevent it. The aim of this study was to examine some of the determinants of academic dishonesty among students: goal orientations in learning, the reasons for cheating and non-cheating, and the acceptability of cheating. The study included a total of 234 students (194 female). The questionnaire consisted of the Croatian version of the Cheating Scale (Carpenter, Harding, & Finelli, 2006), which measured the occurrence of examand homework-related cheating, and severe forms of cheating in academic setting and their acceptability ; the Reasons to Cheat Scale (Petrak & Bartolac, 2013 ; Šimić Šašić & Klarin, 2009), the Reasons not to Cheat Scale (Petrak & Bartolac, 2013), which measured different reasons for non- cheating, and of the Croatian version of the Goal Orientation Scale (Niemvitra, 1999), which measured mastery, performance, and work avoidance goal orientation in learning. Results: The results showed that cheating in the academic context is highly present, with the most common form being exam-related cheating, while the severe forms of cheating were the rarest. Apart from that, cheating is highly acceptable among the students. The reasons for cheating and the acceptability of cheating were found to be significant positive predictors of the occurrence of exam- and homework-related cheating. A significant positive predictor of the severe forms of cheating was the acceptability of cheating, while the mastery goal orientation was a significant negative predictor. The findings have important practical implications for both professors and students and could contribute to a reduction of different kinds of cheating in the academic setting.

academic dishonesty ; reasons for cheating ; reasons for non-cheating ; goal orientations in learning

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