MOTIVACIJSKE ODREDNICE VARANJA U AKADEMSKOM KONTEKSTU
MOTIVATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF CHEATING IN ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT

Summary/Abstract: Academic cheating is a common phenomenon, and numerous studies conducted far have tried to identify variables related to the cheating behavior. The aim of this research was to examine the relationship between some motivational beliefs and occurrence of cheating in academic context. A sample of 293 students of four different faculties (average age of 21 years) participated in the survey. Students filled out questionnaires on cheating frequency, selfefficacy, perceived value of studying and achievement goal orientation. Additional data was collected such as approval of the cheating behavior by students’ immediate environment, attitudes about employment possibilities after completion of studies and factual information on the choice of studies, i.e. whether the selected faculty was a student’s first choice or not. Also, a social desirability scale was used in the research. Frequency of cheating had the highest correlation with approval of the cheating behavior by family members, friends and colleagues. As expected, students with higher score on work avoidance orientation tended to cheat more, as well as those who demonstrated lower perceived value of studying. This research suggests that although both motivational and contextual factors influence cheating, contextual factors, such as students’ perceptions of approval of the cheating behavior by closer social milieu have greater impact.

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