Perceived Opportunity, Academic Self-Efficacy, and Students’ Attitude as Predictors of Exam Cheating Behaviours

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived opportunity, academic self-efficacy, attitude toward exam cheating, and students’ exam cheating behaviours. To this end, the correlational research design was employed. The questionnaire was used as a data-gathering instrument. The samples of the study were 388 grade 12 students selected randomly from the three Wollega Zonal towns to fill out the questionnaire. The result revealed that exam cheating behaviours are highly prevalent among grade 12 students in the study areas. The majority (52.36%) of grade 12 students engaged in some exam cheating behaviours. Moreover, the present study findings show that attitude towards exam cheating positively and significantly correlated with exam cheating behaviours, while academic self-efficacy was negatively and significantly correlated with exam cheating behaviours. The finding of this study further revealed that attitude towards exam cheating contributed significantly to the variance in exam cheating behaviours in the positive direction, while the contribution of perceived opportunity and academic self-efficacy were non-significant. It is recommended that interventions aimed at changing students’ attitudes toward exam cheating should be planned and executed by concerned bodies such as counsellors, principals, and teachers.