Attitudes and understanding are only part of the story: self-control, age and self-imposed pressure predict plagiarism over and above perceptions of seriousness and understanding

Although individual and socio-demographic factors are known to affect student plagiarism there is little research conducted to show how the milieu of factors interact with each other to influence plagiarism behaviour. University students (N = 891) completed surveys on several possible predictors of plagiarism and plagiarism engagement. It was found that predictors of plagiarism accounted for 22.9% of variance in student’s engagement in plagiarism behaviour. The following variables all predicted plagiarism engagement over and above students’ understanding of plagiarism and perception of plagiarism as serious: self-control, pressure from self and others to achieve high grades, age, gender, culture and study major. These findings are important as they highlight the need for interventions that target student perceptions and personal factors such as self-control.