The Role of Values in Academic Cheating at University Online

This study investigated the role of basic human values in explaining academic dishonesty among undergraduate students in Russia (N = 471) during the emergency online learning in 2020. It was hypothesized that higher levels of self-enhancement would be associated with higher levels of dishonest behavior and that values would partially explain the differences by field of study, controlling for gender, age, grade-point-average, and perceived severity of penalty. Descriptive analysis revealed high levels of two types of online academic dishonesty: using unauthorized sources at exams and allowing others to copy exam answers. Majors differed by how much they reported plagiarism and contract cheating. Students’ basic values were also different from the representative national sample. Regression analysis revealed that the effects of majors are not compensated fully by basic human values. Achievement and power values had an average predictive value for the types of dishonesty making up 24% of the explained variance. The results are discussed in terms of consistency and further use of results for curbing online academic dishonesty at university.