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Attitudes of Business Students’ Toward Plagiarism

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Abstract

This research examines the ethical orientations of students (ethical idealism, ethical relativism and Machiavellianism) towards their attitude to plagiarize. It also examines the moderating effect of religious orientation on the relationship of the independent variables toward students’ attitude towards plagiarism. Data was collected from 160 business diploma and undergraduate students from a local private college and a local public university in Malaysia. Results from the hierarchical regression analysis showed that ethical relativism and Machiavellianism had a positive relationship with students’ attitude towards plagiarism whilst ethical idealism was negatively related to students’ attitude towards plagiarism. Religious orientation was found to have no moderating effect on the relationship between the three independent variables: ethical idealism, ethical relativism and Machiavellianism and the dependent variable, students’ attitude towards plagiarism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

    Chun Hoo Quah

  2. Agilent, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

    Natalie Stewart

  3. School of Business Nilai University College, Nilai, Malaysia

    Jason Wai Chow Lee

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  1. Chun Hoo Quah
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Correspondence to Chun Hoo Quah.

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Quah, C.H., Stewart, N. & Lee, J.W.C. Attitudes of Business Students’ Toward Plagiarism. J Acad Ethics 10, 185–199 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-012-9157-4

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