MODERATION EFFECT OF MORAL OBLIGATION ON STUDENT’S INTENTION TOWARDS ACADEMIC DISHONEST BEHAVIOUR: THE CASE OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN GHANA

Abstract

The study examined the moderation effect of moral obligation on students’ intention towards academic dishonest behaviour. A survey-inferential design was used to randomly sample the views of 1,200 undergraduate university students. A structured questionnaire was used to collect. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and Conditional Process Analysis (CPA) were used for the analyses. Moral obligation statistically significantly moderated the intention to engage in academic dishonesty.  It was concluded that an intention to engage in academic dishonesty decrease as moral obligation increases in the individual students. It was recommended that university authorities should introduce moral education as a core course among undergraduate students. This would instill in them a higher moral obligation in order to curb the academic dishonesty menace.