Title
Moral Identities, Social Anxiety, and Academic Dishonesty Among American College Students
Publication Date
9-2007
Abstract
Academic dishonesty is a persistent problem in the American educational system. The present investigation examined how reports of academic cheating related to students' emphasis on their moral identities and their sensitivity to social evaluation. Seventy college students at a large southeastern university completed a battery of surveys. Symptoms of social anxiety were positively correlated with recall of academic cheating. Additionally, relative to students who placed less importance on their moral identities, students who placed more importance on their moral identities recalled significantly fewer instances of cheating. In summary, these findings suggest that students are less likely to cheat on their school work when they place greater emphasis on their moral identity and are less sensitive to social evaluation. Practical interventions to rampant cheating in American schools are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Wowra, S. A. (2007). Moral identities, social anxiety, and academic dishonesty among american college students. Ethics & Behavior, 17(3), 303-321.
Topic
Other, Social Dimensions of Ethical Behavior
Material Type
Journal Article
Research Area
Engineering | Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Social and Behavioral Sciences
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