Academic cheating among college students: the role of moral identity and perceived parenting style

Context and relevance. Academic cheating, being a widespread phenomenon, negatively impacts the effectiveness of educational institutions. Based on self-determination theory, the study examines psychological factors of academic cheating, including moral identity, academic motivation, and parenting style. Objective. To identify the relationships of moral identity and parenting style with academic cheating among college students while controlling for their academic motivation. Hypothesis. Three hypotheses were tested: 1. Academic dishonesty is associated with moral identity in youth, with a stronger relationship observed with scores from the Moral Identity Questionnaire (MIQ) than with scores from the Moral Identity Scale (MIS). 2. The relationship between academic dishonesty and moral identity persists when controlling for autonomous academic motivation. 3. Moral identity, along with academic motivation, mediates the relationship between parental autonomy support/control and academic dishonesty. Methods and materials. Participants: 287 college students aged 15–25 years (M = 16,75, SD = 1,42; 75% female). Measures: Academic Cheating Scale, Academic Motivation Scale for School and College Students, Moral Identity Questionnaire (MIQ), Moral Identity Scale (MIS), Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale (PPASS). Results. The hypotheses were fully confirmed. It was found that parental support and control are indirectly related to academic dishonesty, both through moral identity (measured by MIQ) and through academic motivation. Conclusions. The study shows that academic dishonesty is associated with weak moral identity and a non-optimal (non-autonomy-supportive, controlling) parenting style. Educating parents about an autonomy-supportive parenting style may help foster youth's moral identity and prevent future antisocial behavior.

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