Morality, Rationality and Academic Dishonesty: A Partial Test of Situational Action Theory

John K. Cochran

doi:10.6000/1929-4409.2015.04.19

Authors

John K. Cochran Department of Criminology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., SOC104, Tampa, FL 33620, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2015.04.19

Keywords:

Academic Dishonesty, Morality, Formal Deterrence, Situational Action Theory

Abstract

This study uses self-report survey data from a sample of college students to provide a partial test of Wikstrӧm’s situational action theory (2010a) by examining the extent, if any, to which the effects of perceptual deterrence on academic dishonesty are moderated by personal morality. The findings show that both personal morality and perceived certainty of formal sanctions are inversely associated with cheating; however, the deterrent effect of high perceived certainty of formal sanctions is not greater among those with weak moral prohibitions against cheating as predicted by Wikstrӧm and observed by Svensson (2015) in an earlier test of Wikstrӧm’s situational action theory.

References

Aiken, Leona S. and Stephen G. West. 1991. Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Bachman, Ronet, Raymond Paternoster, and Sally Ward. 1992. “The Rationality of Sexual Offending: Testing a Deterrence/ Rational Choice Conception of Sexual Assault.” Law and Society Review, 29(3): 343-374. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3053901 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3053901

Burkett, Steven R. and Sally Ward. 1992. “A Research Note on Perceptual Deterrence, Religiously Based Moral Condem-nation, and Social Control.” Criminology, 3(1):119-134. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1993.tb01124.x

Calabrese, Raymond L. and John K. Cochran. 1990. “The Relationship of Alienation to Cheating among a Sample of American Adolescents.” Journal of Research and Development in Education, 23(1): 65-72.

Cochran, John K., Valantina Aleksa, and Beth Sanders. 2008. “Are Persons Low in Self-control Rational and Deterrable?” Deviant Behavior, 29(4): 461-483. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01639620701598148 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01639620701598148

Gallupe, Owen and Stephen W. Baron. 2014. “Morality, Self-control, Deterrence, and Drug Use: Street Youths and Situational Action Theory.” Crime and Delinquency, 60(2):284-305. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128709359661 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128709359661

Gibbs, John J. and Dennis Giever. 1995. “Self-control and Its Manifestation among University Students: An Empirical Test of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime.” Justice Quarterly, 12(2): 231-255. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07418829500092661 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07418829500092661

Gottfreedson, Michael and Travis Hirschi. 1990. A General Theory of Crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Grasmick, Harold. R. and Donald E. Green. 1981. “Deterrence and the Morally Committed.” Sociological Quarterly, 22(1): 1-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.1981.tb02204.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.1981.tb02204.x

Jensen, Gary F., Maynard L. Erickson, and Jack P. Gibbs. 1978. “Perceived Risk of Punishment and Self-reported Delinquency.” Social Forces, 57(1): 57-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sf/57.1.57 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/57.1.57

Lanza-Kaduce, Lonn. 1988. “Perceptual Deterrence and Drinking and Driving among College Students. Criminology, 26(2): 321-341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1988.tb00844.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1988.tb00844.x

Paternoster, Raymond and Sally Simpson. 1996. “Sanction Threats and Appeals to Morality: Testing a Rational Choice Model of Corporate Crime.” Law and Society Review, 30(4): 859-866. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3054128 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3054128

Pauwles, Lieven., Frank Weerman, Gerben Bruinsma, and Wim Bernasco. 2011. “Perceived Sanction Risk, Individual Propensity and Adolescent Offending: Assessing Key Findings from the Deterrence Literature in a Dutch Sample.” European Journal of Criminology, 8(5):386-400. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1477370811415762 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370811415762

Pratt, Travis C., Francis T. Cullen, Kristie R. Blevins, Leah E. Daigel, and Tamara D. Madensen. 2006. “The Empirical Status of Deterrence Theory: A Meta-analysis.” Pp. 367-396 in Taking Stock: the Status of Criminological Theory, Advances in Criminological Theory, Vol. 15, edited by F. T. Cullen, J.P. Wright, and K. R. Blevins. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315130620-14

Sellers, Christine S. 1999. “Self-control and Intimate Violence: An Examination of the Scope and Specification of the General Theory of Crime.” Criminology, 37(2): 375-404. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1999.tb00490.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1999.tb00490.x

Svenson, Robert. 2015. “An Examination of the Interaction between Morality and Deterrence in Offending: A Research Note.” Crime and Delinquency, 6(1): 3-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128713486068 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128713486068

Svensson, Robert, Lieven Pauwels, and Frank M. Weerman. 2010. “Does the Effect of Self-control on Adolescent Offending Vary by Level of Morality?” Criminal Justice and Behavior, 37(6): 732-743. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0093854810366542 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854810366542

Wikstrӧm, Per-Olaf H. 2004. “Crime as Alternative: Towards a Cross-level Situational Action Theory of Crime Causation.” Pp. 1-43 in Beyond Empiricism: Institutions and Intentions in the Study of Crime, Advances in Criminological Theory, Vol. 13, edited by J. McCord. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351322560-1

Wikstrӧm, Per-Olaf H. 2006. “Individuals, Settings, and Acts of Crime: Situational Mechanisms and the Explanation of Crime.” Pp. 61-107 in The Explanation of Crime” Contexts, Mechanisms, and Development, edited by P-O. H. Wikstrӧm and R. J. Sampson. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489341.004

Wikstrӧm, Per-Olaf H.(2007. “Deterrence and Deterrence Experiences: Preventing Crime through the Threat of Punishment.” Pp. 345-378 in International Handbook of Penology and Criminal Justice, edited by S. G. Shoham, O. Beck, and M. Kett . Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420053883.ch10

Wikstrӧm, Per-Olaf H. 2010a. “Situational Action Theory.” Pp. 3-43 in Encyclopaedia of Criminological Theory, edited by F. T. Cullen and P. Wilcox. . Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.

Wikstrӧm, Per-Olaf H. 2010b. “Explaining Crime as Moral Actions.” Pp. 211-239 in Handbook of the Sociology of Morality, edited by S. Hitlin and S. Vaisey. New York: Springer Verlag. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6896-8_12

Wikstrӧm, Per-Olaf H. and Robert Svensson. 2010. “When Does Self-control Matter? The Interaction between Morality and Self-control in Crime Causation.” European Journal of Criminology, 7(5): 395-410. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1477370810372132 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370810372132

Wikstrӧm, Per-Olaf H., Andromachi Tseloni,and Dimitris Karlis. 2011. “Do People Comply by the Law because They Fear Getting Caught?” European Journal of Criminology, 8(5): 401-420. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370811416415

Wright, Bradley R. E., Avsholom Caspi, Terrie Moffitt, T.,and Ray Paternoster. 2004. “Does the Perceived Risk of Punishment Deter Criminally Prone Individuals? Rational Choice, Self-control, and Crime.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 41(2): 180-213. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022427803260263 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427803260263