The Impact of Honour Codes and Perceptions of Cheating on Academic Cheating Behaviours, Especially for MBA Bound Undergraduates

Abstract

Researchers studying academic dishonesty in college often focus on demographic characteristics of cheaters and discuss changes in cheating trends over time. To predict cheating behaviour, some researchers examine the costs and benefits of academic cheating, while others view campus culture and the role which honour codes play in affecting behaviour. This paper develops a model of academic cheating based on three sets of incentives - moral, social and economic—and how they affect cheating behaviours. An on-line survey comprising 61 questions was administered to students from three liberal arts colleges in the USA in spring 2008, yielding 700 responses, with half from colleges with honour codes. Econometric modelling indicates that students ultimately seeking MBA degrees, and those who lack a perception of what constitutes cheating, undertake more cheating, regardless of whether an honour code is in place. Additionally, unless an honour code is embraced by the college community, the existence of an honour code by itself will not reduce cheating.

Keywords:

• Academic dishonesty
• Cheating
• MBA cheating
• Honour codes
• Cheating perceptions