Abstract
College cheating represents a major ethical problem facing students and educators, especially in colleges of business. The current study surveys 666 business students in three universities to examine potential determinants of cheating perceptions. Anti-intellectualism refers to a student’s negative view of the value and importance of intellectual pursuits and critical thinking. Academic self-efficacy refers to a student’s belief in one’s ability to accomplish an academic task. As hypothesized, students high in anti-intellectualism attitudes and those with low academic self-efficacy were least likely to perceive college cheating as unethical. Considering that college cheating has been found as a predictor of workplace cheating, the results urge business instructors to reduce anti-intellectualism among students and to encourage them to put forth their best efforts. The results also serve employers by focusing attention on these two psychological variables during the hiring and promotion processes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allmon D. E., Page D., & Roberts, R. (2000). Detecting, Understanding, and Controlling for Cheating on Tests. Research in Higher Education, 32, 725–736
Angell L. R. (2006). The Relationship of Impulsiveness, Personal Efficacy, and Academic Motivation to College Cheating. College Student Journal, 40, 118–131
Antion D. L., & Michael W. B. (1983). Short-Term Predictive Validity of Demographic, Affective, Personal, and Cognitive Variables in Relation to Two Criterion Measures of Cheating Behaviors. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 43, 467–482. doi:10.1177/001316448304300216
Bandura A. (1977). Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191
Bandura A. (1986). Social Foundation of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Bandura A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Freeman
Barnes W. F. (1975). Test Information: An Application of the Economics of Search. The Journal of Economic Education, 7, 28–33. doi:10.2307/1182030
Beck L., & Ajzen I. (1991). Predicting Dishonest Actions Using the Theory of Planned Behavior. Journal of Research in Personality, 25, 285–301. doi:10.1016/0092-6566(91)90021-H
Berube M. (1996). Public Perceptions of Universities and Faculty. Academe, 82, 10–17
Bowers W. J. (1964). Student Dishonesty and Its Control in College. New York: Columbia Bureau of Applied Research
Chapman K. J., Davis R. D., Toy D., & Wright L. (2004). Academic Integrity in the Business School Environment: I’ll Get by with a Little Help from My Friends. Journal of Marketing Education, 26, 236–249. doi:10.1177/0273475304268779
Chemers, M. M., L. T. Hu and B. F. Garcia: 2001, ‘Academic Self-Efficacy and First-Year College Student Performance and Adjustment’, Journal of Educational Psychology 93, 55–64. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.93.1.55
Cooper, D. R. and C. W. Emory: 1995, Business Research Methods (Irwin, Chicago, IL)
Crown D. F., & Spiller M. S. (1998). Learning from Literature on Collegiate Cheating: A Review of Empirical Research. Journal of Business Ethics, 17, 683–700
Davis S. F., Grover C. A., Becker A., & McGregor L. N. (1992). Academic Dishonesty: Prevalence, Determinants, Techniques and Punishments. Teaching of Psychology (Columbia, Mo.), 19, 16–20. doi:10.1207/s15328023top1901_3
Davis S. F., & Ludvigson H. W. (1995). Additional Data on Academic Dishonesty and a Proposal for Remediation. Teaching of Psychology (Columbia, Mo.), 22, 119–121. doi:10.1207/s15328023top2202_6
Eigenberger M. E., & Sealander K. A. (2001). A Scale for Measuring Students’ Anti-Intellectualism. Psychological Reports, 89, 387–402. doi:10.2466/PR0.89.6.387-402
Elias S. M., & Loomis R. J. (2000). Using an Academic Self- Efficiency Scale to Address University Major Persistence. Journal of College Student Development, 41, 450–454
Fass R. A. (1990). Cheating and Plagiarism: Ethics in Higher Education. New York, NY: McMillan
Freeman F. M., Anderman L. H., & Jensen J. M. (2007). Sense of Belonging in College Freshman at the Classroom and Campus Levels. Journal of Experimental Education, 75, 203–220. doi:10.3200/JEXE.75.3.203-220
Graham M. A., Monday J., O’ Brien K., & Steffen S. (1994). Cheating at Small Colleges: An Examination of Student and Faculty Attitudes and Behaviors. Journal of College Student Development, 35, 255–260
Hofstadter R. (1963). Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. New York: Knopf
Hook R. J. (2004). Students’ Anti-Intellectual Attitudes and Adjustment to College. Psychological Reports, 94, 909–914. doi:10.2466/PR0.94.3.909-914
Houston J. P. (1976). The Assessment and Prevention of Answer Coping on Undergraduate Multiple-Choice Exams. Research in Higher Education, 5, 301–311. doi:10.1007/BF00993429
Iyer, R. and J. K. Eastman: 2006, ‘Academic Dishonesty: Are Business Students Different from Other College Students?’, Journal of Education for Business 82, 101-110
Karabenick S. A., & Scrull T. K. (1978). Effects of Personality and Situation Variation in Locus of Control on Cheating: Determinants of the “Congruence Effect”. Journal of Personality, 46, 72–95. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1978.tb00603.x
Kisamore J. L., Stone T. H., & Jawahar I. M. (2007). Academic Integrity: The Relationship Between Individual and Situational Factors on Misconduct Contemplations. Journal of Business Ethics, 75, 381–394. doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9260-9
Klein H. A., Levengurg N. M., McKendall M., & Mothersell W. (2007). Cheating During the College Years: How Do Business School Students Compare? Journal of Business Ethics, 72, 197–206. doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9165-7
Kuo F., Lin C. S., & Hsu M. (2007). Assessing Gender Differences in Computer Professionals’ Self-Regulatory Efficacy Concerning Information Privacy Practices. Journal of Business Ethics, 73, 145–160. doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9179-1
Lawson R. A. (2004). Is Classroom Cheating Related to Business Students’ Propensity to Cheat in the Real World?. Journal of The American Academy of Business, 8, 142–146
Leach C. W., Queirolo S. S., Voe S. D., & Chemers M. (2003). Choosing Letter Grade Evaluations: The Interaction of Students’ Achievement Goals and Self-Efficacy. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28, 495–509. doi:10.1016/S0361-476X(02)00058-9
Lock E. A., Frederick E., Lee C., & Bobko P. (1984). Effects of Self-Efficacy, Goals, and Task Strategies on Task Performance. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 69, 241–251. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.69.2.241
Long C. D. (1996). It Came from Hollywood: Popular Culture Casts Professors in a Negative Light. Academe, 82, 32–36
McCabe D. L. (1997). Classroom Cheating Among Natural Science and Engineering Majors. Science and Engineering Ethics, 3, 433–445. doi:10.1007/s11948-997-0046-y
Multon K. D., Brown S. D., & Lent R. W. (1991). Relation of Self-Efficacy Beliefs to Academic Outcomes: A Meta-Analytic Investigation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 38, 30–38. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.38.1.30
Nonis, S. and C. O. Swift: 1998, “Deterring Cheating Behavior in the Marketing Classroom: An Analysis of the Effects of Demographics, Attitudes and in-class Deterrent Strategies”, Journal of Marketing Education, 20(3), 188–199
Pajares F. (1996). Self-Efficacy Believes in Academic Settings. Review of Educational Research, 66, 543–578
Perry A. R., Kane K. M., Bernesser K. J., & Picker P. T. (1990). Type A Behavior, Competitive Achievement-Striving, and Cheating among College Students. Psychological Reports, 66, 459–465. doi:10.2466/PR0.66.2.459-465
Pino N. W., & Smith W. L. (2003). College Students and Academic Dishonesty. College Student Journal, 37, 490–500
Premeaux, S.: 2005, “Undergraduate Student Perceptions Regarding Cheating: Tier 0 Versus 2 AACSB Accredited Business Schools”, Journal of Business Ethics, 62(4), 407–418
Rettinger D. A., & Jordan A. E. (2005). The Relations Among Religion, Motivation, and College Cheating: A Natural Experiment. Ethics & Behavior, 15, 107–129. doi:10.1207/s15327019eb1502_2
Shaffer L. S. (1981). The Growth and Limits of Recipe Knowledge. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 2, 71–83
Sims R. L. (1993). The Relationship Between Academic Dishonesty and Unethical Business Practices. Journal of Education for Business, 68, 207–211
Sims, R. L.: 1995, ‘The Severity of Academic Dishonesty: A Comparison of Faculty and Student Views’, Psychology in the Schools 32, 233–238. doi:10.1002/1520-6807(199507)32:3<233::AID-PITS2310320311>3.0.CO;2-H
Smyth L. S., & Davis J. R. (2004). Perceptions of Dishonesty Among Two-Year College Students: Academic Versus Business Situations. Journal of Business Ethics, 51, 62–73. doi:10.1023/B:BUSI.0000032347.79241.3c
Swift C. O., & Nonis S. (1998). When No One is Watching: Cheating Behavior on Projects and Assignments. Marketing Education Review, 8, 27–36
Torres J. B., & Solberg V. S. (2001). Role of Self-Efficiency, Stress, Social Integration, and Family Support in Latino College Student Persistence and Health. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 59, 53–63. doi:10.1006/jvbe.2000.1785
Wacquant L. J. (1996). The Self-Inflicted Irrelevance of American Academics. Academe, 82, 18–23
Williams M. S., & Hosek W. R. (2003). Strategies for Reducing Academic Dishonesty. Journal of Legal Studies Education, 21, 87. doi:10.1111/j.1744-1722.2003.tb00326.x
Whitley B. E. (1998). Factors Associated with Cheating Among College Students. Research in Higher Education, 39, 235–274. doi:10.1023/A:1018724900565
Wood R. E., & Locke E. A. (1987). The Relation of Self-Efficiency and Grade Goals to Academic Performance. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 47, 1013–1024. doi:10.1177/0013164487474017
Zajacova A., Lynch S. M., & Espenshade T. J. (2005). Self-Efficacy, Stress, and Academic Success in College. Research in Higher Education, 46, 677–705. doi:10.1007/s11162-004-4139-z
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Elias, R.Z. The Impact of Anti-Intellectualism Attitudes and Academic Self-Efficacy on Business Students’ Perceptions of Cheating. J Bus Ethics 86, 199–209 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9843-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9843-8