MASTERY GOAL AS PREDICTOR OF DISPOSITION TO ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AMONG UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATES IN SOUTHWESTERN, NIGERIA
Keywords:
Disposition to academic dishonest, Mastery GoalAbstract
This study examined the level of disposition to academic dishonesty among undergraduates in public universities, the influence of mastery goals on this disposition, and the measures institutions are taking to curb it. The study population included 327,272 undergraduates, Heads of Departments (HODs), School Counsellors, and Deans of Student Affairs from public universities in Southwestern Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was employed, selecting three states at random, followed by one federal and one state university per state. The sample comprised 1,584 students for quantitative data and 42 participants (12 undergraduates, 12 HODs, 12 School Counsellors, and 6 Deans) for qualitative data. Two adapted instruments—the Disposition to Academic Dishonesty Inventory (DADI) and the Mastery Goal Inventory (MGI)—were used to collect quantitative data, while in-depth interviews gathered qualitative insights on preventive measures. Data analysis included frequency counts, percentages, relative significance index, linear regression, and thematic analysis. Results revealed that 71.6% of undergraduates exhibited a moderate disposition to academic dishonesty. Mastery goals significantly contributed to this disposition (R = 0.195, F = 61.369), suggesting that students with stronger mastery orientations were less prone to dishonest behaviors. Qualitative findings highlighted institutional measures such as student orientation programs and disciplinary actions against offenders as key strategies to mitigate academic dishonesty. The study concluded that mastery goals play a crucial role in reducing students' inclination toward academic dishonesty, emphasizing the need for universities to integrate goal-oriented learning approaches alongside enforcement policiesReferences
Abiodun, G., Gbadebo, O., &Tola, O., (2011). “Forms of academic cheating during examination among students with hearing impairment in Nigeria: Implication for counseling practice”,
European Journal of Social Sciences; Dec 2011, Vol. 26 Issue 2, p 276.
Adebayo, S. O., (2011) Common cheating behavior among Nigerian university students: A case study of University of Ado- Ekiti, Nigeria. World Journal of Education 1(1): 144-149.
Adeniyi, W. O., (2021). Academic dishonesty among undergraduates of ObafemiAwolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria: The perceived menace and the panacea: The Journal of Positive Psychology and CounsellingVol9 2021.
Adesua, V. O., (2014). Motivation and academic performance of senior secondary school students in South West Nigeria. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti
Adeyemi, T. O., (2010). Examination malpractices among secondary schools students in Ondo State, Nigeria: Perceived causes and possible solutions. American-Eurasian Journal of Scientific Research, 5 (1): 67-75.
Anderman, E. M., &Koenka, A. C., (2017). The relation between academic motivation and cheating. Theory Into Practice, 56, 95–102. doi:10.1080/00405841.2017.1308172
Balbuena, Sherwin E., &Lamela Renee A., (2015). Prevalence, motives and views of academic dishonesty in higher education. Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 3(2), 69-75.
Beasley, E. M., (2016). Comparing the demographics of students reported for academic dishonesty to those of the overall student population. Ethics & Behavior, 26(1), 45–62. doi:10.1080/10508422.2014.978977
Bvumbwe, T., (2016) Enhancing nursing education via academic clinical partnership: an integrative review. International journal of nursingscience,3(3), 314-322.
Coren, A. (2012). The theory of planned behaviour: Will faculty confront students who cheat?
Journal of Academic Ethics, 10(3), 171-184. Retrieved October 28, 2015, from
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10805-012-9162-7.
Daumiller, M., Dickh€auser, O., &Dresel, M., (2019). University instructors' achievement goals f o r t e a c h i n g . J o u r n a l o f E d u c a t i o n a l P s y c h o l o g y , 111 , 1 3 1 – 1 4 8 . https://doi.org/10.1037/edu 0000271.
David, L. T., (2015). Academic cheating in college students: Relations among personal values, self-esteem and mastery. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 187: 88–92.
Denler, H., Water, R, C., Benson, M., (2014, January 28) Social Cognitive Theory. Retrieved from http:/ www. Education.com/ reference/ article/social-cognitive theory.
Elliot, A. J., Murayama, K., &Pekrun, R., (2011). A 3 X 2 achievement goal model.Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(3), 632-648.
Fiddelis, B. M., (2018). Perceived causes and methods of examination malpractice in the Malawian education system: A case study of secondary schools in south east education division (SEED), https:// scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/530.
Idrus, F., Asadi, Z., &Mokhtar, N., (2016). Academic dishonesty and achievement motivation: A delicate relationship.Higher Education of Social Science, 11(1), 1-8. doi:10.3968/8738.
Jones, L. R., (2011). Academic integrity and academic dishonesty: a handbook about cheating and plagiarism. Florida institute of technology, Melbourne.
Kadivar, P., Kavousian, J., Arabzadeh, M., &Nikdel, F., (2011). Survey on relationship between goal orientation and learning strategies with academic stress in university students. Procidia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30,453–456. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.089
Kaplan, A., Middleton, M. J., Urdan, T., &Midgley, C., (2002). Achievement goals and goal structures. In C. Midgley (Ed.), Goals, goal structures, and patterns of adaptive learning (pp. 21-53). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Niiya, Y., Ballantyne, R. North, M. S., & Crocker, S., (2008). Gender, contingencies of self- worth, and achievement goals as predictors of academic cheating in a controlled setting. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 30, 76-83
Nyamwange, C., Ondima, P., &Onderi, P. O., (2013). Factors influencing examination cheating among secondary school students; A case of Masaba South District of Kisli County, Kenya. Elixir Psychology, 56, 13519-13524.
Olutola, F., (2014). Towards a More enduring prevention of scholarly plagiarism among University students in Nigeria, Journal of Sociology and culture (14)6, 1-7.
Orim, S. M., (2016). Perspectives of academic integrity from Nigeria.In Bretag T. (eds) Handbook of Academic integrity.Springer, Singapore.
Owunwanne, D., Rustagi, N., & Dada, R., (2010). Students' perceptions of cheating and plagiarism in higher institutions. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 7(11), 59-68. doi:10.19030/tlc.v7i11.253 Retrieved May 30, 2017.
Ramberg, J., &Modin, B., (2019). School effectiveness and student cheating: Do students' grades and moral standards matter for this relationship? [Online].Social Psychology of Education.doi:10.1007/s11218-019-09486-6.
Robins, R. W., & Pals. J. L., (2002). Implicit self-theories in the academic domain: Implications for goal orientation, attributions, affect, and self-esteem change. Self and Identity 1, no. 4:313-336.
Saidin, N., & Isa, N., (2013). Investigating academic dishonesty among language teacher trainees: The Why and How of Cheating. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 90, 522- 529.
Sarita, R. D., (2015). Academic cheating among students: Pressure of parents and teachers.
International Journal of Applied Research 2015, 1(10), 793–797.
Selemani, A., Chawinga, W., &Dube, G., (2018) why do postgraduate students commit plagiarism? Empirical study 'International Journal for Education integrity, 14 (7), 1-15
Stephens, J. M., &Wangaard, D. B., (2009).Teaching/or integrity: steps to prevent 33 cheating in your classroom. Retrieved from http://www.ethicsed.org/programs/integrityworks/pdf/Teachingfor Integrity.pdf.
Tenaw, (2013), Relationship between self-efficacy academic achievement and gender in analytical chemistry at DebreMarkos college of teacher education. African journal of chemistry Education, 3 (1)3-18.
Thomas, D., (2018). Factors that explain academic dishonesty in university students in Thailand.Taylor& Francis Group.:http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfview?vid=4&sid
Ubaka, C., Gbenga F., Sunday N., &Ndidiamaka E., (2013). Academic dishonesty among Nigerian pharmacy students: a comparison with United Kingdom. African Journal of Pharmacology, 7(1).1934-41.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 AFRICAN JOURNAL OF SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.