Challenges to Academic Integrity: Identifying the Factors Associated With the Cheating Chain

This study examined whether seeing other students cheat in examinations and/or knowing students who routinely cheat in examinations associates with other students' cheating behaviour and on their intentions to cheat in the future. We also examined whether cheating in minor and/or major examinations associates with students' intentions to cheat in the future. Our sample included 195 business students enrolled in accounting classes from three universities located in the USA. Our analyses indicated that having cheated in a minor and/or major examination associated with the sum of having observed other students cheating, knowing a student who routinely cheated and social desirability response bias. Our model for students' intentions to cheat in the future included their having cheated in minor and major examinations. We also tested our findings on the data from prior research, which included students from Australia, China, Ireland, Japan and the USA.