The Mediating Role of Moral Development and Religious Orientation in the Relationship of Narcissism and Bullying with Academic Cheating among Upper Secondary School Students

Objective: This study aimed to model the effects of narcissism and bullying on academic cheating through the mediating roles of moral development and religious orientation among upper secondary school students. Methods and Materials: This applied correlational study was conducted among upper secondary school students in Zanjan during the 2024–2025 academic year. A total of 311 students, including 167 boys and 144 girls, were selected using multistage cluster sampling. Data were collected using Murdock and Stephens’ Academic Cheating Questionnaire, the 16-item Narcissistic Personality Inventory by Ames, Rose, and Anderson, the Illinois Bullying Scale by Espelage and Holt, Manavipour’s Moral Development Scale, and Allport and Ross’s Religious Orientation Scale. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients, path analysis, and bootstrap testing in SPSS version 28 and AMOS version 24. Findings: The proposed model demonstrated acceptable fit indices (GFI = 0.90, CFI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.053). Narcissism positively and significantly predicted academic cheating (β = 0.168, p = 0.003), and bullying also positively and significantly predicted academic cheating (β = 0.274, p < 0.001). Moral development negatively predicted academic cheating (β = -0.202, p < 0.001). Intrinsic religious orientation (β = -0.181, p < 0.001) and extrinsic religious orientation (β = -0.187, p < 0.001) also negatively and significantly predicted academic cheating. Narcissism (β = -0.270, p < 0.001) and bullying (β = -0.320, p < 0.001) negatively predicted moral development. Indirect effect analysis showed that moral development significantly mediated the relationships between narcissism (β = 0.054, p = 0.002) and bullying (β = 0.065, p < 0.001) with academic cheating. Intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation also showed significant mediating effects. Conclusion: The findings indicate that moral development and religious orientation function as protective mechanisms in the relationships of narcissism and bullying with academic cheating. Preventive and educational interventions aimed at reducing academic cheating may benefit from strengthening moral reasoning, empathy, moral self-regulation, and the internalization of religious values among upper secondary school students.