The mediating role of justification on the relationship of subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and attitude on intention to cheat among students

Abstract

Cheating is not new in an academic line, but a continuous problem faced by educators. Many studies reported an increase trend of cheating among students from secondary or tertiary institutions from time to time. The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the connection between subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, attitude, and intention to cheat among undergraduate students. Also, the variable of justification to cheat is assigned as moderator variable in this relationship. The paper used a survey method for data collection, administered both in electronic and paper form. The Structural equation model with partial least square (PLS-SEM) was utilized to evaluate the data obtained from 917 undergraduate students in one of the public universities in Malaysia. The results provided support that justification, alongside subjective norms, perceived behavioral control were valid predictors of intention to cheat. However, attitude was significant with the intention to cheat. Further, the findings showed that among the three constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior, justification could only significantly moderate the perceived behavioral control-intention to cheat relationship. The study was only conducted at one public university in Malaysia. Researchers are recommended to further examine the model in other universities and other countries. Implications for implementing strict anti-academic dishonesty policy and research are discussed.