Students’ Unethical Academic Behaviors: A Self-Determination Theory Approach

Building on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the study examines the influence of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and in-class deterrents on prior cheating, neutralization, and likelihood of cheating in the future. In addition, the model has been tested based on gender differences. To test the hypotheses, the data were collected from 324 undergraduate hospitality and tourism students. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling. Results of hypotheses testing showed that both extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation had negative relationships with prior cheating, which is consistent with previous research. In addition, neutralization showed a positive relationship with likelihood of cheating and prior cheating was positively related to likelihood of cheating. These findings can help hospitality and tourism instructors and administrators develop various strategies to prevent students’ unethical behaviors. A discussion of implications is included along with limitations and recommendations for future research. 

Barnett, D. C., & Dalton, J. C. (1981). Why college students cheat? Journal of College Student Personnel, 22(6), 545-551.
Barron, P. (2007). Hospitality and tourism students’ part-time employment: Patterns, benefits, and recognition. Journal of
Hospitality, Leisure, Sport, and Tourism Education, 6(2), 40-54.
Calvert, C. L., Martin, L., Beck, J., & Lin, S. Y. (2008). Identifying unethical academic behaviors of students studying food
service, hospitality, tourism, and culinary arts. Journal of Culinary Science and Technology, 6(1), 30-39.
Daniel, L. G., Blount, K. D., & Ferrell, C. M. (1991). Academic misconduct among teacher education students: A
descriptive-correlational study. Research in Higher Education, 32(6), 703-724.
Davis, S. F., & Ludvigson, H. W. (1995). Additional data on academic dishonesty and a proposal for remediation. Teaching of
Psychology, 22(2), 119-121.
Davis, S. F., Grover, C. A., Becker, A. H., & McGregor, L. N. (1992). Academic dishonesty: Prevalence, determinants, techniques,
and punishments. Teaching of Psychology, 19(1), 16-20.
Davy, J. A., Kincaid, J. F., Smith, K. J., & Trawick, M. A. (2007). An examination of the role of attitudinal characteristics and
motivation on the cheating behavior of business students. Ethics and Behavior, 17(3), 281-302.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1991). A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality. In R. Dienstbier (Ed.), Nebraska
symposium on motivation: Perspectives on motivation (Vol. 38., pp. 237-288). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and the “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of
behavior. Psychological Inquiry: An International Journal for the Advancement of Psychological Theory, 11(4), 227-268.
Fairchild, A. J., Horst, S. J., Finney, S. J., & Barron, K. E. (2005). Evaluating existing and new validity evidence for the academic
motivation scale. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30(3), 331-358.

Fishbein, L. (1994). We can curb college cheating. Education Digest, 59(7), 58-62.

Fortier, M. S., Vallerand, R. J., & Guay, F. (1995). Academic motivation and school performance: Toward a structural model.
Contemporary Education Psychology, 20(3), 257-274.
Gagne, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(4),
331-362.
Gorsuch, R. L. (1997). Exploratory factor analysis: Its role in item analysis. Journal of Personality Assessment, 68(3), 532-560.
Haines, V. J., Diekhoff, G. M., LaBeff, E. E., & Clark, R. E. (1986). College cheating: Immaturity, lack of commitment, and the
neutralizing attitude. Research in Higher Education, 25(4), 342-354.
Harris, A. (2012). Honor code may lessen cheating. Collegiate Times. Retrieved from
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/20451/honor-code-may-lessen-cheating
Hill, J. P., & Kochendorfer, R. A. (1969). Knowledge of peer success and risk of detection as determinants of cheating.
Developmental Psychology, 1(3), 231-238.
Iyer, R., & Eastman, J. K. (2006). Academic dishonesty: Are business students different from other college students? Journal of
Education for Business, 82(2), 101-110.
Jordan, A. E. (2001). College student cheating: The role of motivation, perceived norms, attitudes, and knowledge of institutional
policy. Ethics and Behavior, 11(3), 233-247.
Kincaid, C., & Zemke, D. M. V. (2006). Perceptions of cheating: An exploratory study. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
Education, 18(1), 47-55.
Nonis, S. A., & Swift, C. O. (1998). Deterring cheating behavior in the marketing classroom: An analysis of the effects of
demographics, attitudes, and in-class deterrent strategies. Journal of Marketing Education, 20(3), 188-199.
Sims, R. L. (1993). The relationship between academic dishonesty and unethical business practices. Journal of Education for
Business, 68(4), 207-211.
Singhal, A. C., & Johnson, P. (1983). How to halt student dishonesty? College Student Journal, 17(1), 13-19.
Smith, K. J., Davy, J. A., Rosenberg, D. L., & Haight, G. T. (2002). A structural modeling investigation of the influence of
demographic and attitudinal factors and in-class deterrents on cheating behavior among accounting majors. Journal of
Accounting Education, 20(1), 45-65.
Sykes, G., & Matza, D. (1957). Techniques of neutralization: A theory of delinquency. American Sociological Review, 22(6),
664-670.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics (3rd ed.). New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Tom, G., & Borin, N. (1988). Cheating in academe. Journal of Education for Business, 63(4), 153-157.
Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G., Blais, M. R., Briere, N. M., Senecal, C., & Vallieres, E. F. (1992). The academic motivation scale:
A measure of intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation in education. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52(4),
1003-1017.
Wright, N. (2007). Duke MBA students face expulsion over cheating. Earth Times. Retrieved from
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/57857.html