Biosocial Risk Factors for Academic Dishonesty: Testing a New Mediation Model in Young Adults

Abstract

Researchers increasingly recognize that biological risk factors contribute to the development of antisocial behavior. Although academic dishonesty is a pervasive problem, this type of antisocial behavior has not been investigated in biosocial research. This article addresses this limitation by examining the relationship between academic dishonesty and resting heart rate in a sample of undergraduates (N = 149, 65.69% female, M age = 19.62 years). Subjects completed self-report academic dishonesty questionnaires, and heart rate was measured during a resting period. Low resting heart rate was associated with more frequent and varied academic dishonesty in females, but not in males. Self-control and sensation seeking, but not fearlessness, mediated this relationship in females. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine a biological risk factor for academic dishonesty. This is also the first study to examine self-control as a possible mediator of the resting heart rate-antisocial behavior relationship in adults. Findings suggest a potential pathway in young adults through which low resting heart rate may affect antisocial behavior.

Academic dishonesty among university students: The roles of the psychopathy, motivation, and self-efficacy

“…Previous research showed that an increase in general self-efficacy reduced the risk of suicide among women [61]. Moreover, Portnoy, Legee, Raine, Choy, and Rudo-Hutt [62] found that low resting heart rate was associated with more frequent academic dishonesty in female students, and that self-control and sensation-seeking mediated this relationship. Thus, along with the observed lower level of disinhibition for female students, it appears that self-regulation abilities may play a different role for men and women's performance, and also that deficits in self-control might not lead to the same behavioral tendencies in the sexes (see [63]).…”

Psychopathic Traits, Academic Fraud, and the Mediating Role of Motivation, Opportunity, Rationalization and Perceived Capability

“…In turn, these low-fear features may also influence the perceived capability to cheat. Academic dishonesty in boldness-related traits seems to be partially explained by a low resting heart rate (Portnoy et al, 2018), indicating that reduced autonomic responses and arousal in boldness ease academic cheating. Thus, Hypothesis 3 (H3): We expect boldness to predict academic fraud prevalence via perceived capability.…”

The relations of inattention and hyperactivity to academic cheating in adolescents with executive functioning problems

“…Cheating also is associated with social behaviors and perceptions that are similar to many of the social functioning concerns associated with EFP. For example, research demonstrates that cheating is associated with externalizing behaviors (Callender et al, 2010), fearlessness (Portnoy et al, 2019), greater tolerance of deviance (e.g., endorsing physical violence, lying to parents, or betraying a secret) (Jensen et al, 2002), irresponsibility (O'Connor & Evans, 2019), and feelings of heightened home-school dissonance (Brown-Wright et al, 2013). Social influences on behavior become particularly salient during adolescence (Eccles & Roeser, 2011), which is also when cheating behaviors tend to increase (e.g., Anderman & Midgley, 2004).…”