The mediating role of academic self-efficacy between the answer-copying tendency and the fear of negative evaluation

The aim of this research study was to analyse the relationship among answer-copying tendency, academic self-efficacy, and fear of negative evaluation. To this end, we formed a structural equivalence model, and we evaluated the mediating role of academic self-efficacy between answer-copying tendency and fear of negative evaluation. A total of 562 university students participated in the study. We used the following as data collection tools: The Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, and Answer-Copying Tendency Scale. For the analysis of the data, first the measurement model was tested, then the Structural Equation Model was established and estimations were made with Maximum Probability Estimation. According to the results, academic self-efficacy plays the role of a mediatory variable between fear of negative evaluation and answer-copying tendency. As can be seen from the impact of fear of negative evaluation on answer-copying tendency, there is a meaningful, positive correlation between the two variables. When we included academic self-efficacy in the model as a mediatory variable, we observed that the relationship between fear of negative evaluation and answer-copying tendency weakened and became less noteworthy. In the light of these observations, we can assert that the tendency of individuals with high academic self-efficacy to cheat in academic contexts is lower even if they have a fear of negative evaluation.