The relations of motivational variables to self-reported cheating behaviors and beliefs in science were examined in a sample of early adolescents. It was hypothesized that cheating and beliefs in the acceptability of cheating would be more likely when students perceived an emphasis on performance and extrinsic incentives rather than on mastery and improvement. Results indicated that students who reported cheating in science perceived their classrooms as being extrinsically focused and perceived their schools as being focused on performance and ability. Students who believed in the acceptability of cheating also reported personal extrinsic goals and a perceived emphasis on extrinsic factors in class. Students who reported cheating also worried about school. The reported use of deep cognitive strategies was related negatively and the use of self-handicapping strategies was related positively to cheating beliefs and behaviors. Why do some adolescents engage in cheating behaviors, whereas others do not? What are the motivational variables related to cheating during adolescence? The present study examines relations between motivational variables and selfreported cheating beliefs and behaviors in a sample of early adolescents.

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Motivation and Cheating During Early Adolescence

The present study investigated the dishonest academic behaviours of Australian university students (N = 954) and their relationships with demographic factors, academic policy advised to students, academic self-efficacy, and academic orientation. It was hypothesised that higher levels of dishonesty would be associated with low learning-orientation, high grade-orientation, low academic self-efficacy and nonreceipt of information about the rules of cheating and plagiarism. Descriptive analyses revealed high levels of three types of self-reported academic dishonesty: cheating, plagiarism and falsification. Regression analyses revealed demographic variables, academic orientation and academic self-efficacy to have differential predictive value for the three types of dishonesty, underlining the argument that it is misleading to measure academic dishonesty as a unidimensional construct. The results are discussed in terms of implications for strategic interventions and university policy formulation.

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Who cheats at university? A self-report study of dishonest academic behaviours in a sample of Australian university students

In this study, we examined students' attitudes toward cheating and whether they would report instances of cheating they witnessed. Data were collected from three educational institutions in Singapore. A total of 518 students participated in the study. Findings suggest that students perceived cheating behaviors involving exam-related situations to be serious, whereas plagiarism was rated as less serious. Cheating in the form of not contributing one's fair share in a group project was also perceived as a serious form of academic misconduct, although a majority of the students admitted having engaged in such behavior. With regard to the prevalence of academic cheating, our findings suggest that students are morally ambivalent about academic cheating and are rather tolerant of dishonesty among their peers. On the issue of whether cheating behaviors should be reported, our findings revealed that a majority of students chose to take the expedient measure of ignoring the problem rather than to blow the whistle o...

Attitudes Toward, and Intentions to Report, Academic Cheating Among Students in Singapore

This study investigated the differences between American and Polish business college students in their attitudes, perceptions, and tendencies toward academic dishonesty. The study found significant differences between U.S. and Polish business college students' behaviors and beliefs about cheating. The findings from the research are valuable in light of the frequency with which U.S. educators are teaching abroad, as well as in consideration of the number of international students attending American universities.

International Perspective: A Cross-National Exploration of Business Students' Attitudes, Perceptions, and Tendencies Toward Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty in post‐secondary education is a widespread, insidious and global problem. Business educators hosting foreign students locally and teaching abroad more than ever need to understand the nuances and attitudes of different student populations and how these differences may manifest themselves in a course. This research contributes to the growing albeit still scanty body of literature demonstrating that significant cross‐national differences exist regarding students' attitudes, beliefs and propensities toward cheating. This study compares US and Hong Kong university business students on three areas: cheating behaviors and perceptions, relationships between academic dishonesty and gender, and prediction of academic dishonesty. A total of 443 usable surveys were collected in the USA and 622 in Hong Kong. Statistically significant differences are presented followed by discussion and implications.

Academic dishonesty in a global educational market: a comparison of Hong Kong and American university business students

We examined perceptions about academic cheating in comparable 11th-grade students from Costa Rica, Germany, and the United States to assess the similarities and differences associated with the different societies, with achievement status, and with gender. German students generally differed substantially from both Costa Rican and U.S. students in perceptions of the problem, critical attributes of cheating, causes of cheating, and beliefs about effective ways to control cheating in the school. We did find some important similarities across all three samples, however. Achievement and gender effects were less substantia] but were uniform across the three groups.

Adolescents' Cognitions and Attributions for Academic Cheating: A Cross-National Study

Cross-national data from 1,068 Grade 11 students (223 from Australia, 135 from the former East Germany, 114 from Costa Rica, 213 from the former West Germany, 293 from the USA and 90 from Austria) were collected by questionnaire in a study relating to perceptions about cheating. Cheating perceptions were defined in terms of three aspects: perceptions of what constitutes cheating, perceptions of why cheating occurs, and perceptions of how cheating can be discouraged. Known sources of bias were taken into account before data collection and during data analysis to produce an anti-cheating perception scale (from strong to weak) with sound psychometric properties. The results showed that Australians, with their cultural emphasis on the “fair go mate” syndrome combined with personal achievement, tended towards the stronger end of the scale, and the West Germans, with their cultural emphasis on cooperative learning to succeed, tended towards die weaker end, with students from the other countries falling...

Measuring students' perceptions about cheating in six countries

Vocational training programs in prisons have a presumed goal of preparing inmates for productive roles in society. Evaluation is typically focused on how well inmates develop marketable job skills. This paper is an exploration of the other benefits which accrue from vocational education, and how those benefits can be maximized. It is based upon a case study of a barber training program in a medium security state prison in the South. Program results are presented, along with staff and inmate assessments of the program. Investigators concluded that program effects were minimal as a result of misperceptions of the program.

Delores E. Craig

Papers

Adolescents' Cognitions and Attributions for Academic Cheating: A Cross-National Study

Measuring students' perceptions about cheating in six countries

Vocational training in prison: a case study of maximum feasible misunderstanding

Geographic information systems: computers in law enforcement