Criticism and justification of undergraduate academic dishonesty: development and validation of the domestic, market and industrial orders of worth scales

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite university efforts to create honour codes and a culture of integrity, student academic dishonesty remains a widespread problem around the world. Previous theoretical and methodological approaches, which informed the development of measures for the prevention of dishonest behaviour, focus only on student justifications of academic misconduct as abnormal or deviant acts. However, understanding the arguments that both criticize and justify dishonesty at universities is crucial for developing an effective integrity policy. Based on Boltanski and Thevenot's theory, we develop and validate a questionnaire measuring the prevalence of students who draw on domestic, market and industrial orders of worth justifying or criticizing academic dishonesty. A total of 3,538 students from six Russian universities participated in the study. The results supported the applicability of the proposed model, demonstrating the validity and reliability of the instrument. The instrument can be utilized by universities for monitoring what order of worth prevails among students and developing honour codes and integrity policy.