notesmenonsharland 2011
Narcissism, Exploitative Attitudes, and AcademicDishonesty: An Exploratory Investigation of RealityVersus MythMohan K. Menon and Alex Sharland
narcissism in the media--effects ofnarcissism on attitudes toward academic dishonestyintervening variables such as academic entitlement and exploitativeness.the relationship between narcissism and academic dishonesty may bemediated by exploitative attitudes.
Narcissism was identified as a personality disorder by theAmerican Psychiatric Association in the 1980s. A study in2008 found that narcissism prevalent as a disorder among6.2% of the population ((Grant et al., 2008).
America’s celebrity-obsessed culture isimpacting the behavior of high school and college age groups(Twenge & Campbell, 2009). Studies of social networkingbehaviors have indicated some increase in narcissism(University of Georgia, 2008).America’s celebrity-obsessed culture is
impacting the behavior of high school and college age groups(Twenge & Campbell, 2009). Studies of social networkingbehaviors have indicated some increase in narcissism(University of Georgia, 2008).
the phenomenon of narcissismlinks narcissism to other behaviors and attitudes, someof which are dysfunctional; these involve entitlement andacademic entitlement, Machiavellianism and exploitation,and dishonesty, including academic dishonesty
It leads them to believethat they are better or more effective on various dimensionsthan they may really be (John & Robins, 1994).related ego involvement seem to be evident in traitssuch as status, intelligence, importance, and attractiveness
an increased willingnessto exploit others for personal gains (Campbell, Bush,Brunell, & Shelton, 2005),narcissists tend tobolster their positive self-view by self-regulating behavior.
These three traitsseem to differentiate narcissists from those that possess highself-esteem.
their generation’s most important goals, indicatedcertain narcissistic trends (Twenge&Campbell, 2009).Eighty-one percent of them selected “being rich” as theirmost important goal followed by “being famous” (51%).The group saw these two goals as far more important thanothers such as being charitable, helping the community orbecoming spiritual.
In a study of Facebook users, in which personalpages were content analyzed, the number of friends and wallposts that individuals had on their profile pages tended to correlatewith their level of narcissism (University of Georgia,2008). The authors of the study concluded that those whoare narcissistic use Facebook in a self-promoting way thatcan be identified by others, even to those who are untrainedobservers. Many university students use Facebook, but narcissisticstudents tend to have greater number of friends andnarcissistic college students tend to upload more provocativepictures of themselves on social networking sites comparedto students who are more humble (Twenge & Campbell,2009).
30% of college students agreed with the statement:if I show up to every class, I deserve at least a B. Inanother recent study, 52% of students considered themselvescustomers of the university and hence expected good customerservice for the price paid by them (Schings, 2009).
those high in bothself-esteem and narcissism were the most aggressive—morethan those high in narcissism but low in self-esteem, or thoselow in narcissism but high in self-esteem or those low inboth.
Academic Entitlement
Narcissism has often been linked to a sense of entitlement.Narcissists feel special and that the world owes them something.These notions among narcissists translate to achievingsuccess or material wealth at all costs without regard to socialresponsibilities to others. Schings (2009) suggested arelationship between students’ attitudes and behaviors andtheir perceptions as university customers. Based on a surveyof 1,025 undergraduates, Schings found that those whoconsidered themselves as university customers were morelikely to feel entitled and to complain. Greenberger, Lessard,Chuanshen, and Farruggia (2008) reported that academic entitlementis strongly related to an overall sense of entitlementand to narcissism among students.
Dishonest Behavior: The Everybody CheatsSyndromethere is an association between negativeacademic attitudes and cheating. Whitley (1998) reportedthat cheating can be most observed among those who believethat it is the norm and acceptableSeventy-four percent
of high school students admitted to cheating in 2002 comparedto 61% in 1992 and 34% in 1969 (Twenge & Campbell,2009)
we investigated the relationship between narcissism,academic entitlement, exploitative attitudes (Machiavellianism),and academically dishonest attitudes. Figure 1depicts the model tested in the study.
Narcissism Inventoryformed the primary base for items targeted at the primary focalarea; that is, narcissistic tendencies and attitudes (Raskin& Hall, 1979). Second, the Machiavellian Index (Mach 4)was used to develop items focusing on manipulation andexploitation (Christie & Geis, 1970). These measures are directedat the exploitative attitude variable. Finally, for itemsrelated to the academically dishonest attitude we used itemsbased on research from other work in the field (Holdren,2004).
The instrument was administered to six student groups. Thestudents were participants in courses at a medium-sized state
university in the southeastern United States. Both undergraduateand graduate students participated. The completed questionnaireswere collected by an administrative staff member,not by a faculty member, to avoid participant discomfort relatedto the study subject
Exploitative attitude mediates the relationship between narcissismand academic entitlement, and academic dishonesty.
The implication in this exploratory study is that higher levelsof narcissism do not have a direct impact on academicallydishonest attitude, but have an indirect relationship. That is,if a person is not prone to exploiting others, or does not thinkexploiting is worthwhile, then their attitude toward cheatingis not changed. Therefore, just because students appear to bemore narcissistic does not mean they are more likely to thinkcheating is acceptable.