Unveiling the Nexus between Dark Triad Personality Traits and Academic Dishonesty: The Parallel Mediation of Moral Disengagement and Academic Entitlement and Moderating Effect of Perceived Teacher’s Approachability.

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and academic dishonesty, using Social Cognitive Theory as a framework. It also investigates moral disengagement and academic entitlement as potential mediators and examines perceived teacher approachability as a moderator. This study employs a quantitative approach. A sample of 336 business students across Bachelor's, Master's, and Ph.D. levels were surveyed using an anonymous questionnaire. The proposed model was evaluated using PLS-SEM 4. The results revealed a positive correlation between dark personality traits and academic dishonesty. Mediation analysis indicated that moral disengagement mediates the relationship between dark traits and academic dishonesty. Furthermore, moderation analysis confirmed that perceived teacher approachability plays a role in reducing academically dishonest behaviors. Overall, the findings emphasize the significance of dark triad personality traits, moral disengagement, and perceived teacher approachability in predicting academic dishonesty, contributing to its prevention. This study primarily relies on self-reported data, which may be affected by social desirability bias, and focuses on a single region, limiting the generalizability of the results.