A sample of 1,063 students who were enrolled in an undergraduate marketing course at a large Southeastern university was employed to examine the effects of perceived and admitted cheating behavior on four dimensions of academic integrity and to compare self-report measures of cheating with simulated behavior. Scales representing ways and means to curb cheating, moralistic attitudes toward cheating, cheating locale, and impact on students were developed and tested. Results of MANOVAs suggest that both perceived and admitted cheating behaviors affect the attitudes and opinions of students along these dimensions. A comparison of self-reports with simulated behaviors suggest that self-reports tend to underestimate current rates and that cheating rates are behavior specific. Research and educational implications of the study's results are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Baird, J. S. Jr.1980. Current trends in college cheating. Psychology in the Schools17: 515-522.
2.
Barnett, D. C. , and J. C. Dalton. 1981. Why college students cheat. Journal of College Student Personnel22: 545-551.
3.
Bowers, W. J.1964. Student dishonesty and its control in college. New York: Bureau of Applied Social Research, Columbia University.
4.
Bresnock, A. E.1989. Multiple choice testing: Question and response position. Journal of Economic Education20: 239-245.
5.
Canning, R.1965. Does an honor system reduce classroom cheating? An experimental answer. Journal of Experimental Education24: 291-296.
6.
Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher Education . 1979. Fair practices in higher education: Rights and responsibilities in a period of intensified competition for enrollment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
7.
Collison, M.1990. Apparent rise in students' cheating has college officials worried. Chronicle of Higher Education, 17 January, A33, A35.
8.
David, R. , and J. Kovach. 1979. Attitudes toward unethical behaviors as a function of educational commercialization. College Student Journal13: 338-344.
9.
Davis, S. F. , C. A. Grover, A. H. Becker, and L. N. McGregor. 1992. Academic dishonesty: Prevalence, determinants, techniques, and punishments. Teaching of Psychology19 (1):16-20.
10.
Davis, S. F. , and H. W. Ludvigson. 1995. Additional data on academic dishonesty and a proposal for remediation. Teaching of Psychology22 (2): 199-121.
11.
Dowd, S. B.1992. Academic integrity—A review and case study. Technical report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.
12.
Drake, C. A.1941. Why students cheat. Journal of Higher Education12: 418-420.
13.
Evans, N. J.1987. A framework for assisting student affairs staff in fostering moral development. Journal of Counseling and Development66: 191-194.
14.
Finn, J. D.1974. A general model for multivariate analysis. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
15.
Fishbein, L.1993. Can we curb college cheating?Chronicle of Higher Education40 (December 1):A52.
16.
Gail, T. , and N. Borin. 1988. Cheating in academe. Journal of Education for Business63 (4):53-57.
17.
Garred, E.1991. Schools for scandal. People, 13 May, 103-104.
18.
Gehring, D. , E. Nuss, and G. Pavela. 1986. Issues and perspectives on academic integrity. Washington, D.C.: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.
19.
Goldsen, R. K. , M. Rosenberg, R. William Jr., and E. Suchman. 1960. What college students think. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand.
20.
Haines, V. J. , G. M. Diekhoff, E. E. LaBeff, and R. E. Clark. 1986. College cheating: Immaturity, lack of commitment, and the neutralizing attitude. Research in Higher Education25: 342-354.
21.
Harp, D. N. , and J. J. Hogan. 1993. Crime in the classroom: Detection and prevention of cheating on multiple-choice exams. Journal of Chemical Education70 (4):306-311.
22.
Hetherington, E. M. , and S. E. Feldman. 1964. College cheating as a function of subject and situational variables. Journal of Educational Psychology55: 212-218.
23.
Houston, J. P.1976. The assessment and prevention of answer copying on undergraduate multiple-choice examinations. Research in Higher Education17: 271-274.
24.
Houston, J. P.1986. Survey corroboration of experimental findings on classroom cheating behavior. College Student Journal20: 168-173.
25.
Jendrek, M. P.1989. Faculty reactions to academic dishonesty. Journal of College Student Development30: 401-406.
26.
Johnson, C. D. , and J. Gormly. 1972. Academic cheating: The contribution of sex, personality, and situational variables. Developmental Psychology6: 320-325.
27.
Karlins, M. , C. Michaels, and S. Podlogar. 1988. An empirical investigation of actual cheating in a large sample of undergraduates. Research in Higher Education29 (4):359-364.
28.
Keller, M.1976. Academic dishonesty at Miami. Student Life Research, Miami University, 1-16.
29.
Kibler, W. L.1993. A framework for addressing academic dishonesty from a student development perspective. NASPA Journal31 (1):8-18.
30.
Kibler, W. L.1994. Addressing academic dishonesty: What are institutions of higher education doing and not doing?NASPA Journal31 (2):92-101.
31.
Kibler, W. L. , E. M. Nuss, B. G. Paterson, and G. Pavela. 1988. Academic integrity and student development: Legal issues and policy perspectives. Ashville, NC: College Administration Publications.
32.
Leming, J. S.1980. Cheating behavior, subject variables, and components of the internal-external scale under high and low risk conditions. Journal of Educational Research74 (2):83-87.
33.
Leming, J. S.1980. Cheating behavior, subject variables, and components of the internal-external scale under high and low risk conditions. Journal of Educational Research74 (2):83-87.
34.
Levine, A.1980. When dreams and heroes died: A portrait of today's college student. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
35.
Maramark, S. , and M. Maline. 1993. Academic dishonesty among college students: Issues in education. Brief written for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Washington, D.C.: Department of Education.
36.
May, K. M. , and B. H. Loyd. 1993. Academic dishonesty: The honor system and students' attitudes. Journal of College Student Development34: 125-129.
37.
May, K. M. , and B. H. Loyd1994. Honesty tests in academia and business: A comparative study. Research in Higher Education35 (4):499-511.
38.
McCabe, D. L.1992. The influence of situational ethics on cheating among college students. Sociological Inquiry62 (3):365-373.
39.
McCabe, D. L. , and L. Trevino. 1993. Academic dishonesty: Honor codes and other contextual influences. Journal of Higher Education64 (5):522-538.
40.
Moffat, T. 1990. Undergraduate cheating. Unpublished study, Rutgers University.
41.
Nelson, T. , and N. Schaeffer. 1986. Cheating among college students estimated with the randomized-response technique. College Student Journal20: 321-325.
42.
Nunnally, J. C.1978. Psychometric theory. 2d ed.New York: McGraw-Hill.
43.
Nuss, E. M. 1982. Undergraduate moral development and academic dishonest. Ph.D. diss., University of Maryland.
44.
Nuss, E. M.1984. Academic integrity: Comparing faculty and student attitudes. Improving College and University Teaching32: 140-144.
45.
Oakes, H. R.1975. Cheating attitudes and practices at two state colleges. Improving College and University Teaching23: 232-235.
46.
Pavela, G.1981. Cheating on campus: Who's really to blame?Chronicle of Higher Education21 (22):64.
47.
Pratt, C. B. , and A. McLaughlin. 1989. An analysis of predictors of college students' ethical inclinations. Research in Higher Education30 (2): 195-219.
48.
Sierles, F. , I. Hendrickx, and S. Circle. 1980. Cheating in medical school. Journal of Medical Education55 (2):124-125.
49.
Singhal, A. C.1982. Factors in student dishonesty. Psychological Reports51: 775-780.
50.
Stafford, T. H. Jr.1976. Academic dishonesty at North Carolina University: A student-faculty response. Raleigh, NC: Division of Student Affairs.
51.
Stern, E. B. , and L. Havlicek. 1986. Academic misconduct: Results of faculty and undergraduate surveys. Journal of Allied Health5: 129-142.
52.
Stevens, G. E.1984. Ethical inclinations of tomorrow's citizens: Actions speak louder?Journal of Business Education59: 147-152.
53.
Tittle, C. R. , and A. R. Rowe. 1973. Moral appeal, sanction threat, and deviance: an experimental test. Social Problems20: 488-498.
54.
Uhlig, G. E. , and B. Howers. 1967. Attitudes toward cheating and opportunistic behavior. Journal of Educational Research60: 411-412.
55.
Vitro, F. T. 1969. The effects of probability of test success, opportunity to cheat, and test importance on the incidence of cheating. Ph.D. diss., University of Iowa.
