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Individual and Contextual Influences on Academic Dishonesty: A Multicampus Investigation

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Abstract

Students at nine medium to large state universities were surveyed in this comprehensive investigation of the influences of individual and contextual factors on self-reported academic dishonesty. Results suggested that cheating was influenced by a number of characteristics of individuals including age, gender, and grade-point average, as well as a number of contextual factors including the level of cheating among peers, peer disapproval of cheating, fraternity/sorority membership, and the perceived severity of penalties for cheating. Peer disapproval was the strongest influential factor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Management, Rutgers University, USA

    Donald L. McCabe

  2. Smeal College of Business Administration, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

    Linda Klebe Trevino

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  1. Donald L. McCabe
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  2. Linda Klebe Trevino
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McCabe, D.L., Trevino, L.K. Individual and Contextual Influences on Academic Dishonesty: A Multicampus Investigation. Research in Higher Education 38, 379–396 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024954224675

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