AUTHOR=Orosz Gábor , Farkas Dávid , Roland-Levy Christine 

TITLE=Are Competition and Extrinsic Motivation Reliable Predictors of Academic Cheating?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=4

YEAR=2013

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00087

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00087

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Previous studies suggest that extrinsic motivation and competition are reliable predictors of academic cheating. The aim of the present questionnaire study was to separate the effects of motivation- and competition-related variables on academic cheating by Hungarian high school students (<italic>N</italic> = 620, <italic>M</italic> = 264, <italic>F</italic> = 356). Structural equation modeling showed that intrinsic motivation has a negative effect, and amotivation has a positive indirect effect on self-reported academic cheating. In contrast, extrinsic motivation had no significant effect. Indirect positive influence on cheating, based on some characteristics of hypercompetition, was also found, whereas attitudes toward self-developmental competition had a mediated negative influence. Neither constructive nor destructive competitive classroom climate had a significant impact on academic dishonesty. Acceptance of cheating and guilt has significant and direct effect on self-reported cheating. In comparison with them, the effects of motivational and competition-related variables are relatively small, even negligible. These results suggest that extrinsic motivation and competition are not amongst the most reliable predictors of academic cheating behavior.</p>