Personality and Academic Dishonesty. Evidence from an Exploratory Pilot Study Cover Image

Personality and Academic Dishonesty. Evidence from an Exploratory Pilot Study
Personality and Academic Dishonesty. Evidence from an Exploratory Pilot Study

Author(s): Dan Florin Stănescu, Elena Madalina Iorga
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Editura Comunicare.ro
Keywords: academic ethics; personality; NEO-PI-R; cheating; unethical behavior

Summary/Abstract: The study seeks to investigate the extent to which students at a public university in Bucharest engage in unethical behaviour within the academic environment such as fraudulence, plagiarism, falsification, delinquency, unauthorized help etc., depending on their personality. This study was conducted using a survey method of 252 students at graduate and post-graduate level. The findings indicate that personality traits such as conscientiousness are significantly and negatively correlated with unethical behavior in the case of university students (r=-.281, p<.01 with plagiarism; r=-.250, p<.01 with fraudulation; r=-.233, p<.01 with misconduct; r=-.217, p<.01 with unauthorized help). Similarly, neuroticism is significantly associated with plagiarism (r=.214, p<.01), fraudulation (r=.163, p<.01) and misconduct (r=.156, p<.05). Significant differences regarding falsification are also observed between graduate and postgraduate students (t(250)=-2.075, p<.05). This research provides some valuable insights on allowing educational institutions and those directly involved in the educational process, to develop relevant policies and guidelines on matters pertaining to academic conduct.

  • Issue Year: XV/2013
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 131-141
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: English
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