Understanding Academic Fraud: The Role of Dark Triad Personality and Situational Factor

Abstract

Academic fraud is a perennial problem, and the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated it with most universities moving to online learning. We conducted a survey with 259 students from three universities about their perceptions of academic fraud in online learning. This article examines whether individual factors drawing from the dark triad of personality and three situational factors: academic integrity culture, academic fraud ambiguity, and pressure, influence the intention to engage in academic fraud. Using partial least square-structural equation modeling, the results show that academic integrity culture, pressure, and the dark triad of personality significantly affect students’ intention to engage in academic fraud. The implication of such findings is discussed.