Self-reported academic performance and academic cheating: Exploring the role of the perceived classroom (in)justice mediators

Background As a point of departure, this study assumes that teaching to impart knowledge is inseparable from its moral role to create an ethical citizenry, such as developing standards of academic integrity. Aims The study aims at delving into how different facets of the sense of (in)justice in the classroom may play a significant role in explaining cheating behaviour, in general, and among low-achieving students, in particular. Sample and Methods The study was conducted among 5,084 eighth and ninth graders Israeli students. CFA and a structural modelling equations method were used to examine the study's factorial constructs and model, respectively. Results Findings pointed to a good fit of the measurement model using SEM. In accordance with the mediating hypothesis, self-reported academic achievement was negatively related to self-reported academic cheating. Moreover, perceived 'school injustice' (procedural and distributive justice as estimates) played a mediating role in explaining the relation between academic performance and cheating behaviour. It is noteworthy, however, that the facet of the personality-like construct of justice sensitivity displayed inconsistent findings and no mediating effect when examined as a separate model. Conclusions Self-reported academic performance and academic cheating among middle school' students were explained more strongly by contextual justice-related factors, namely perceived teachers' distributional and procedural practices in the classroom, than by justice sensitivity, which is a personality factor. Thus, teachers' justice practices seem to be crucial for developing a predisposition to academic honesty.