Attitude Towards Academic Fraud and Its Relation with The Motivation of Students' Academic Achievement and Self-Esteem

Introduction: Fraud is one of the most important factors in learning among students Therefore, identification of factors influencing attitudes towards academic fraud is essential. The aim of this study was to investigate the attitude toward academic fraud and its relation to the motivation of academic achievement and self esteem in students of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences in 2018. Methods: In this descriptive-correlation study, 332 students of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences participated in the study based on a preliminary study. In order to achieve the research goals, demographic characteristics, academic fraud, motivation for Hermann's progress and Rosenberg self-esteem were used. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 18 and Pearson & Spearman correlation coefficient, independent t-test and ANOVA. Results: The results showed that there was an inverse and significant relationship between the mean scores of attitude toward fraud and the motivation of academic achievement. In other words, with the increase in attitude toward cheating, the motivation score for academic achievement declined and vice versa (P =-0.22, P =0.0001). There was a reverse and significant relationship between attitude scores on cheating and self-esteem; so that self-esteem decreased with increasing attitude toward cheating (p= -0.13, P=0.015). Conclusion: In the survey of academic fraud, it is better to take into account factors such as self-esteem and the motivation of academic achievement at the beginning of university entrance to achieve a lower degree of academic harm.