Predicting Academic Misconduct: A Comparative Test of Four Sociological Explanations

Abstract

Extant studies have shown academic misconduct, that is, cheating, to be a pervasive problem among college students. A number of avenues have been explored in order to determine those factors related to this type of deviant behavior. This study looks at a variety of traditional theoretical factors, including constructs representing social bond, self‐control, social strain, and differential association theories, using data from a stratified random sample of 674 undergraduates at a Southwestern university. We also enter into the equations a host of other factors that have been found to be related to academic misconduct in previous studies. Separate equations were estimated for each theory, and in the full model all theoretical variables were included for a total of six equations. In the full model, the data did not support strain or social bond theories, and moderate support was found for self‐control theory; however, strong support was found for differential association theory. The final equation accounted for 53.2 percent of the variance in academic misconduct.