Ethical awareness and peer reporting intention of exam cheating and plagiarism: Mediation role of ethical judgment

Anna A. Rangkuti
Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia
Lucia R. M. Royanto and Guritnaningsih A. Santoso
Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia

Peer reporting, defined as a lateral control effort by reporting witnessed academic dishonesty, is one method used to foster academic integrity. However, most students refrain from reporting. This study portrays the process of peer reporting intention based on an ethical decision-making perspective in two types of academic dishonesty (exam cheating and plagiarism) through mediation analysis. The variables were ethical awareness, ethical judgment, and peer reporting intention. The instruments used were the ethical awareness scale, the Moral Equity scale, and the peer reporting intention scale. The participants in this study were 228 students aged between 17 and 23 who attend an Indonesian university. The results of the study indicate that ethical judgment acts as a significant mediator between ethical awareness and peer reporting intention of plagiarism witness, but not between ethical awareness and peer reporting intention of exam cheating witness. Students witnessing academic dishonesty of any kind need to align their judgment and their intention to report by believing that peer reporting of academic dishonesty is an act that is fair, just, morally right, and acceptable. Additionally, lecturers and educational institutions need to encourage peer reporting of all types of academic dishonesty among students through clear and firm regulations; for example, by emphasising the responsibility of witnesses to report and by providing a safe and adequate reporting channel.
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Authors: Anna A. Rangkuti is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia. Her research interests are academic dishonesty, peer reporting, silence, and teacher education. Currently, she works as a lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia. Email: anna.armeini71@ui.ac.id, annarangkuti@unj.ac.id Dr Lucia R. M. Royanto is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia. Her research interest are literacy, metacognition, shame and guilt emotion. Email: lucia.retno@ui.ac.id Dr Guritnaningsih A. Santoso (corresponding author) is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia. Her research interest are resilience, moral value, and traffic psychology. Email: guritnaningsih.ny@ui.ac.id, guritsantoso.psi@gmail.com Please cite as: Rangkuti, A. A., Royanto, L. R. M. & Santoso, G. A. (2022). Ethical awareness and peer reporting intention of exam cheating and plagiarism: Mediation role of ethical judgment. Issues in Educational Research, 32(3), 1111-1130. http://www.iier.org.au/iier32/rangkuti.pdf