The relationship between moral disengagement and academic dishonesty: mediating role of religious attitudes

Document Type : Scientific Articles

Authors

1 PhD in Educational Psychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational and Psychology, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.

2 PhD in Educational Psychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational and Psychology, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.

3 PhD in Counseling, Department of Counseling, Faculty of Educational and Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran.

4 PhD in Curriculum Planning, Department of Education, Faculty of Human Science, Shahid Rajaee Tarbiat University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22111/jeps.2025.49063.5765

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between moral disengagement and academic dishonesty of students with the mediating role of religious attitude. The design of the research was correlational and structural equations. The study population of the research comprised all male and female undergraduate students of Farhangian University of Khuzestan state in the academic year 2023-2024. The research sample includes 268 students, who were selected by stratified random sampling method. The sample answered the questionnaires about moral disengagement (Bandura et al., 1996), religious attitude (Golriz and Brahni, 2013), and academic dishonesty (McCobb and Terry Vino, 1996). Data analysis was done by structural equation modeling using Spss and Amos version 26 software. The results showed that moral disengagement has a direct and positive effect on academic dishonesty (β=0.41, p<0.001) and has a direct and negative effect on religious attitude (β=0.25, p<0.001). Also, religious attitude has a direct and negative effect on academic dishonesty (β=-0.17, p<0.023) and has a mediating role between moral disengagement and academic dishonesty (β=0.44, p<0.001). According to the results, it can be said that academic dishonesty can be changed due to the connection between moral indifference and religious attitude and that paying attention to ethics and promoting religious attitudes in the academic environment can be effective in reducing academic dishonesty.
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Keywords

References

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Journal of Educational Psychology Studies
Volume 23, Issue 63
November 2026
Pages 102-80

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