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Do Birds of a Feather Cheat Together? How Personality and Relationships Affect Student Cheating

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Abstract

Academic misconduct is widespread in schools, colleges, and universities and it appears to be an international phenomenon that also spills over into the workplace (Nonis and Swift 2001; Sims 1993; Stone et al. 2011). To this end, while a great deal of research has investigated various individual components such as, demographic, personality and situational factors that contribute to cheating, research has yet to examine why students help others cheat and which students are being asked to help others cheat. In this study, we investigated if the closeness of the relationship to the individual requesting help in cheating to the individual being asked to help cheat, influenced the decision to help cheat. We also investigated if past cheating behavior predicted how an individual would respond to requests to cheat. Additionally, we sought to answer the following questions; whether minor cheating is more prevalent than serious cheating, what personality factors predict helping others cheat, who is helped, and how people rationalize helping others cheat. Results indicate minor cheating to be more prevalent, prudent personalities are less likely to have cheated or to help others cheat, individuals are more likely to help friends cheat than to help strangers, and past cheating behaviors is indicative of helping others to cheat. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Our total participants represent all students who participated in the cheating surveys. For serious cheating, those who have been asked to cheat (N = 45) is greater than the value in our regressions (N = 29) due to some students who have been asked, but did not respond to the request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oklahoma State University, 320A Business Building, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA

    Alex J. Scrimpshire

  2. Oklahoma State University, 308 North Hall Tulsa Campus, Tulsa, OK, 74106, USA

    Thomas H. Stone

  3. University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, 4502 E 41st Street-3J22, Tulsa, OK, 74135, USA

    Jennifer L. Kisamore

  4. Office of the Provost, Illinois State University, Campus Box 4000, Normal, IL, 61790-4000, USA

    I.M. Jawahar

Authors
  1. Alex J. Scrimpshire
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  2. Thomas H. Stone
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  3. Jennifer L. Kisamore
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  4. I.M. Jawahar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas H. Stone.

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J. Scrimpshire, A., Stone, T.H., Kisamore, J.L. et al. Do Birds of a Feather Cheat Together? How Personality and Relationships Affect Student Cheating. J Acad Ethics 15, 1–22 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-016-9267-5

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