Nhung T. Hendy, Nathalie Montargot
In this study, we examined the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB, Ajzen, 1991) and con- scientiousness as antecedents of academic dishonesty using a sample of 178 undergraduate and graduate business students in France.The results provided support to Giluk and Postlethwaite’s (2015) meta-analysis that conscientiousness was a valid predictor of academic dishonesty.
Further,the three constructs of theTPB, namely subjective norms,perceived behavioral control, and attitude mediated the conscientiousness-academic dishonesty relationship.Contrary to expectation, justification of cheating did not mediate the three constructs of theTPB and academic dishonesty relationships.Altogether, the constructs of theTPB, subjective norms,perceived behavioral control, and attitude toward cheating explained 33% of variance in self-reported cheating behavior.Conscientiousness added 4.2% of unique variance in self-reported academic cheating behavior. Implications for ethics education and research are discussed.