Psychometric Properties of Academic Dishonesty Scale and its Relationship with Time Perspective in High School Students

Academic dishonesty has become a worrying problem as students' deliberate attempts to distort, falsify or fabricate their academic assignments. This study aimed to evaluate the Psychometric of academic dishonesty scales for high school students.

In this descriptive-correlational study, 606 boy and girl students of high schools of Ahvaz city were selected using multistage cluster sampling in 2018-19 academic year. Witherspoon et al. (2010) and Zimbardo and Boyd Time Perspective Scale (1999) were used to collect data. Confirmatory factor analysis, correlation coefficient and convergent validity were used to assess the validity of the scale and internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and split method used to assess the reliability of the scale. Data analysis was performed using AMOS 21 and SPSS 22 software.

Two-dimensional structure of the academic dishonesty scale, including traditional and advanced cheating behaviors fitted well with the data. The validity and reliability of the scale were confirmed. There was a significant positive correlation between traditional cheating behavior with past negative, past positive, present hedonistic and present fatalistic (p<0.05) and also, contemporary cheating behavior with past negative, present hedonistic and present fatalistic (p<0.01). Moreover, there was a significant difference between mean scores of the girls and boys (p=0.001).

The findings indicate that the academic dishonesty scale is a valid and reliable tool for measuring academic dishonesty behaviors in high school students. Use of this scale in psychological, educational and counseling study on high school students is recommended.