Academic cheating as planned behavior: the effects of perceived behavioral control and individualism-collectivism orientations

Abstract To inform interventions against academic cheating among college students, the study tests the moderating role of the construct of perceived behavioral control as originally proposed yet seldom tested in the Theory of Planned Behavior, and further tests the cultural boundary conditions for this moderating role with a focus on the four horizontal-vertical individualism-collectivism orientations. Using multicampus survey data collected from 2293 Chinese undergraduate students, the moderation analyses suggest a significant and negative joint effect of perceived behavioral control with the construct of subjective norm and a positive yet insignificant joint effect with the construct of attitude towards cheating. Further moderated moderation analyses identify a pattern from comparing the four significant three-way interactions: the positive effects of attitude towards cheating and subjective norm on academic cheating are stronger under the conditions of a combination of low subjective norm with low horizontal individualism and horizontal collectivism, respectively. The study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the utility of Theory of Planned Behavior in predicting academic cheating and supports a multivariable intervention approach that closely integrates administrative measures with students’ attitudinal and normative beliefs with a concern for the subtle yet significant influences of cultural orientations.