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Differential effects of honesty-humility and descriptive social norms across the seriousness dimension of academic dishonesty.

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Title: Differential effects of honesty-humility and descriptive social norms across the seriousness dimension of academic dishonesty.
Authors: González Cruz, Hernán (AUTHOR), Fritz, Tanja (AUTHOR), Rudert, Selma C. (AUTHOR), Daumiller, Martin (AUTHOR), Janke, Stefan (AUTHOR)
Source: Studies in Higher Education. Dec2025, Vol. 50 Issue 12, p2928-2941. 14p.
Subjects: Seriousness (Attitude), Social norms, Psychology of students, Operant behavior, Values (Ethics), Higher education, Sincerity, Academic fraud
Abstract: Academic dishonesty hinders the accurate evaluation of student learning in higher education. Previous research indicates that both Honesty-Humility and descriptive social norms predict dishonest behavior. Here, we investigated the role of seriousness—the moral weight of dishonest acts—as an underlying dimension of academic dishonesty which can influence the predictive quality of both determinants. We demonstrate that Honesty-Humility has a stronger negative association with serious behaviors, whereas descriptive social norms show a stronger positive association with non-serious behaviors. We investigated a sample of 856 German university students who completed two surveys during a semester in a nationwide study. Using multiple methodologies (i.e. cross-validation with an independent sample, multidimensional scaling, cross-validation with judgments of perceived seriousness), we show that seriousness can be validly measured by assessing the self-reported prevalence of behaviors. This measurement approach is valuable as it does not require additional effort by the researcher. As predicted, structural equation modeling showed that Honesty-Humility was more strongly associated with serious behaviors, while descriptive social norms were more strongly associated with non-serious behaviors. Our findings underscore the theoretical significance of seriousness as a fundamental dimension of academic dishonesty, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of this broad construct. Furthermore, we discuss how recognition of seriousness of dishonest behaviors can inform the development of more targeted and potentially more effective prevention strategies in higher education contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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PubType: Academic Journal
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  Data: Differential effects of honesty-humility and descriptive social norms across the seriousness dimension of academic dishonesty.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22González+Cruz%2C+Hernán%22">González Cruz, Hernán</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Fritz%2C+Tanja%22">Fritz, Tanja</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rudert%2C+Selma+C%2E%22">Rudert, Selma C.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Daumiller%2C+Martin%22">Daumiller, Martin</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Janke%2C+Stefan%22">Janke, Stefan</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Studies+in+Higher+Education%22">Studies in Higher Education</searchLink>. Dec2025, Vol. 50 Issue 12, p2928-2941. 14p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Seriousness+%28Attitude%29%22">Seriousness (Attitude)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+norms%22">Social norms</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology+of+students%22">Psychology of students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Operant+behavior%22">Operant behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Values+%28Ethics%29%22">Values (Ethics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Higher+education%22">Higher education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sincerity%22">Sincerity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Academic+fraud%22">Academic fraud</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Academic dishonesty hinders the accurate evaluation of student learning in higher education. Previous research indicates that both Honesty-Humility and descriptive social norms predict dishonest behavior. Here, we investigated the role of seriousness—the moral weight of dishonest acts—as an underlying dimension of academic dishonesty which can influence the predictive quality of both determinants. We demonstrate that Honesty-Humility has a stronger negative association with serious behaviors, whereas descriptive social norms show a stronger positive association with non-serious behaviors. We investigated a sample of 856 German university students who completed two surveys during a semester in a nationwide study. Using multiple methodologies (i.e. cross-validation with an independent sample, multidimensional scaling, cross-validation with judgments of perceived seriousness), we show that seriousness can be validly measured by assessing the self-reported prevalence of behaviors. This measurement approach is valuable as it does not require additional effort by the researcher. As predicted, structural equation modeling showed that Honesty-Humility was more strongly associated with serious behaviors, while descriptive social norms were more strongly associated with non-serious behaviors. Our findings underscore the theoretical significance of seriousness as a fundamental dimension of academic dishonesty, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of this broad construct. Furthermore, we discuss how recognition of seriousness of dishonest behaviors can inform the development of more targeted and potentially more effective prevention strategies in higher education contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/03075079.2024.2446654
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        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social norms
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      – SubjectFull: Psychology of students
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      – SubjectFull: Higher education
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      – SubjectFull: Sincerity
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      – TitleFull: Differential effects of honesty-humility and descriptive social norms across the seriousness dimension of academic dishonesty.
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              Text: Dec2025
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