Tamera B. Murdock

Motivational Perspectives on Student Cheating: Toward an Integrated Model of Academic Dishonesty

This article uses theoretical concepts from self-efficacy theory, goal theory, expectancy value, and intrinsic motivation theory as a way to organize the vast and largely atheoretical literature on academic cheating. Specifically, it draws on 3 particular questions that students encounter when deciding whether to cheat: (a) What is my purpose?, (b) Can I do this task?, and (c) What are the costs associated with cheating? This article reviews both experimental and nonexperimental evidence related to each of these questions and offers suggestions for future research and instructional practices that will lessen the likelihood of cheating.

Middle-Grade Predictors of Students’ Motivation and Behavior in High School:

This study investigated students’ school context, motivation, and behavior across the transition to high school. During the final marking period of 7th and 9th grades, students completed questionnaires assessing their academic self-concept and perceptions of the motivational context created by teachers, peers, and their economic opportunity structure. Achievement and discipline data were also collected at both time points. Ninth graders provided data on their motivation (effort and valuing of education) and future academic plans. Students reported more positive motivational contexts in 9th grade versus 7th grade, particularly with respect to teachers. Seventh-grade contextual variables were associated with 9th-grade motivation and adjustment. Discriminant function analyses found that 7th-grade variables discriminated between least adjusted and better adjusted high school students. Students’7th-grade discipline referrals, doubts about the economic value of education, and negative expectations of peers and teachers were the best discriminators between less and more adjusted 9th graders.

Attachment to Parents and Psychological Well-Being: An Examination of Young Adult College Students in Intact Families and Stepfamilies.

Numerous studies have shown that compared to individuals from intact, biological families, individuals in stepfamilies tend to fare worse emotionally, socially, physically, and psychologically (e.g., Amato & Keith, 1991). Several studies have attempted to account for the discrepancy, but the research has not yielded definitive results. The current study evaluated attachment to parents as a possible explanation for discrepancies in psychological well-being. The results confirmed that attachment was a significant predictor of well-being. Additionally, individuals from stepfamilies were found to have less secure attachment to their parents than individuals from intact, biological families. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found that attachment (operationalized as maternal and paternal care) partially mediated the relationship between family type (intact, biological family vs. stepfamily) and psychological well-being.

The Psychology of Academic Cheating

Part I: The Anatomy of Cheaters Part II: Achievement Motivation and Cheating Part III: Moral and Social Motivations for Dishonesty Part IV: Prevention and Detection of Cheating

Predictors of cheating and cheating attributions: Does classroom context influence cheating and blame for cheating?

The frequency of cheating in today’s classrooms undermines educators’ efforts and threatens students’ learning. Data from 444 high school students in 48 math and science classrooms at two time points were analyzed to examine the classroom and individual influences on students’ attributions of blame for cheating and to examine the relationship between students’ attributions of blame for cheating and subsequent cheating behavior. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that student-level and aggregate views of teacher characteristics were related to concurrent and subsequent attribution of cheating blame to teachers and to subsequent cheating behaviors, over and above the influence of moral emotion dispositions.RésuméLa fréquence de la tricherie scolaire met actuellement à mal les efforts des enseignants et menace l’apprentissage des étudiants. L’analyse de données recueillies en deux temps sur 444 étudiants issus de 48 classes de mathématiques et de sciences a permis d’explorer les influences de la classe et les influences individuelles sur l’attribution par les étudiants de la responsabilité de la tricherie et d’examiner la relation entre les attributions de responsabilité de la tricherie par les étudiants et leurs comportements subséquents de tricherie. La modélisation hiérarchique linéaire a indiqué que les mesures au niveau individuel (étudiant) et l’opinion (agrégée au niveau de la classe) qu’ont les étudiants des enseignants étaient liés, au-delà de l’influence de dispositions relatives aux émotions morales, (1) à l’attribution, simultanée et subséquente, de la responsabilité de la tricherie aux enseignants et (2) à des comportements subséquents de tricherie.

Addressing Academic Dishonesty Among the Highest Achievers

Although research shows that higher-achieving students report engaging in cheating behaviors less frequently than lower-achieving students, the cheating rates among this population are still startling. Certain aspects of the context of being a high-achieving student support academic dishonesty. We investigate integrity among the highest achievers using a motivational framework, first examining why these students feel the need to cheat. We discuss personal standards of performance, social comparison and competition, pressure to succeed, and these students’ ability to rationalize cheating behaviors. Finally, we suggest what can be done to combat cheating among high achieving students, including thinking about approaches to pedagogy and assessment, providing clarity and consequences for cheating, and considering the culture of high achievers.