The Impact of Honour Codes and Perceptions of Cheating on Academic Cheating Behaviours, Especially for MBA Bound Undergraduates

Researchers studying academic dishonesty in college often focus on demographic characteristics of cheaters and discuss changes in cheating trends over time. To predict cheating behaviour, some researchers examine the costs and benefits of academic cheating, while others view campus culture and the r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAccounting Education Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 231 - 245
Main Authors O'Neill, Heather M., Pfeiffer, Christian A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Routledge 01.06.2012
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Academic dishonesty
Behavior
Business Administration Education
Cheating
Cheating perceptions
College Entrance Examinations
College students
Colleges & universities
Economic models
Ethics
Grade Point Average
Honour codes
Liberal Arts
Masters Degrees
MBA cheating
MBA programs & graduates
Morality
Online Surveys
SAT (College Admission Test)
Scores
Statistical Analysis
Student Behavior
Student Characteristics
Studies
Undergraduate Students
United States > US
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Summary:Researchers studying academic dishonesty in college often focus on demographic characteristics of cheaters and discuss changes in cheating trends over time. To predict cheating behaviour, some researchers examine the costs and benefits of academic cheating, while others view campus culture and the role which honour codes play in affecting behaviour. This paper develops a model of academic cheating based on three sets of incentives - moral, social and economic-and how they affect cheating behaviours. An on-line survey comprising 61 questions was administered to students from three liberal arts colleges in the USA in spring 2008, yielding 700 responses, with half from colleges with honour codes. Econometric modelling indicates that students ultimately seeking MBA degrees, and those who lack a perception of what constitutes cheating, undertake more cheating, regardless of whether an honour code is in place. Additionally, unless an honour code is embraced by the college community, the existence of an honour code by itself will not reduce cheating.
ISSN:0963-9284
1468-4489
DOI:10.1080/09639284.2011.590012