Capitalism and crime in the classroom: An analysis of academic dishonesty and latent student attitudes

ABSTRACT

University students' latent attitudes toward capitalism were quantified and used to predict self-reported cheating behaviors. Results suggest that the relationship between student academic dishonesty and attitudes toward capitalism are complex. Students indicating a strong degree of risk aversion are less likely to report cheating behaviors. Students demonstrating a preference for equality over efficiency, while no more likely to be cheaters, may cheat more often. Efficiency-minded students do not appear to be more likely to cheat, but may engage in fewer instances of cheating. Implications for curriculum development in economics and business programs are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• business ethics
• capitalism
• cheating
• instruction

Notes

1. While the data used in this study were collected in 2009 and 2010, the results have implications for current students. First, it is unlikely that student characteristics have changed significantly since the time of data collection. The 2009/2010 sample is representative of the current University student body in terms of gender, race, graduation rates, and in- versus out-of-state percentages. As well, institutional surveys of students conducted in 2009, 2011, and 2013 show that the percentage of students who report cheating is the same as in 2000, as reported in Burrus et al. (2007). Further, a deep body of literature suggests that many factors related to academic dishonesty have remained relatively consistent over time. For example, factors associated with cheating such as age, fraternity/sorority membership and involvement in extracurricular activities found by Baird (1980) and Houston (1986) were confirmed more recently by Burrus et al. (2007), Klein et al. (2007) and Schuhmann et al. (2013). Studies have consistently found that students with lower grades are more likely to cheat in college, including Bunn et al. (1992), Kerkvliet and Sigmund (1999), Burrus et al. (2007), and Schuhmann et al. (2013). Attitudes toward the tenets of capitalism and the relationship between these attitudes and student behaviors have not been examined or tracked over time; hence this study serves as an important benchmark for future research.

2. Alternative factor extraction and rotation methods were used for comparison and with only minor quantitative differences but identical qualitative results.