I've been following this thread with interest and would like to offer the
following
material from my files:
>From Burns, S. R., Davis, S. F., Hoshino, J.& Miller, R. L. (1998):
ABSTRACT
228 Japanese students and 210 South African students completed a questionnaire to
examine factors associated with academic dishonesty. In comparison to established
American academic dishonesty trends, Japanese students violated what is typically
seen as "normal" cheating trends. Rates of academic dishonesty increased from high
school to university for both men and women. Also, women reported in engaging in
academic dishonesty more often than men at the university level. South African
students followed the established American trends, but rates of academic
dishonesty
were at significantly lower levels. Further investigation of determinants,
techniques, and diverse deterrents are included.
>From Buranen (1999), who conducted an informal and unscientific survey (her words)
on attitudes toward plagiarism, reports the following:
EXCERPT:
"The results of my inquiries surprised me. One question students were asked was,
"In you opinion, are attitudes toward plagiarism or copying different in the
United
States than they are in another country? If so, tell how; if not, how are they
the
same?" In response, I got a number of "I don't knows", but those students who did
offer an opinion (a majority of respondents) were almost unanimous in their belief
that there was no basic difference between what they had been taught in their home
country and in this country-on this issue, it seems, they are in agreement with
Decker's and Kroll's (1988) assumptions that plagiarism was unequivocally bad and
wrong, and that people who engage in it are to be either censured or pitied. This
was true regardless of the students' country of origin, and at least twenty
different countries on five continents were represented, including Iran, Armenia,
Lebanon, Poland, Hungary, the former USSR, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Korea,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Nigeria, Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru,
Ecuador, and Guatemala, among others." (pp. 67-68).
>From Enker (1987):
EXCERPT FROM PAPER
"We find that Israelis report more cheating and are less negative toward cheating
than are their American counterparts. It is important to stress that we cannot
answer the question of whether Israelis cheat more than Americans do- only that
they are more willing to reports that they do so." ....
"Another possible interpretation is that plagiarism is not clearly understood in
Israel as a result of the educational system, which, in most of Israel,
consists of
copying material from encyclopedias or texts and learning material by heart.
It is
therefore not surprising that many American college and university instructors in
Israel comment on the fact that Israeli students tend to use published materials
without citing or quoting, often unaware of the implications." (p. 322).
>From Brilliant (1996).
"The problem of cheating on tests in the general undergraduate population has been
explored for many years and in many contexts ... The problem is even more complex
in relation to immigrant populations. Immigrant students are engaged in a process
of observing and learning confusing differences in behavioral expectations ....
They experienced educational systems and testing procedures that are quite
different from those many Americans perceived as universal norms. Also, concepts
of owning or borrowing ideas vary among cultures (Barnes, 1991).
Finally, in a study on attitudes toward cheating, yours truly (Roig & Ballew,
1994)
failed to find any significant differences between various ethnic groups (i.e.,
african-american, hispanic, and white americans).
References
Barnes, G. A. (1991). The international student's guide to the American
university. Chicago: NTC Publishing.
Brilliant, J. B. (1996). An intervention to decrease cheating in an immigrant
population. Journal of College Student Development, 37, 590-591.
Buranen, L. (1999). But I wasn't cheating: Plagiarism and cross-cultural
mythology. In L. Buranen, L. & A. M. Roy (Eds.) Perspectives on plagiarism and
intellectual property in a postmodern world. NY: State University of New York.
Burns, S. R., Davis, S. F., Hoshino, J.& Miller, R. L. (1998). Academic
dishonesty: A delineation of cross-cultural patterns. College-Student-Journal,
32,
590-596.
Deckert, G. D. (1993). Perspectives on plagiarism from ESL student in Hong
Kong.
Journal of Second Language Writing, 2, 131-148.
Enker, M. S. (1987). Attitudinal and normative variables as predictors of
cheating behavior. Journal of cross-cultural psychology, 18, 315-330.
Kroll, B. M. (1988). How college freshmen view plagiarism. Written
Communication, 5, 203-221.
Roig, M, & Ballew, C. (1994). Attitudes toward cheating of self and others by
college students and professors. The Psychological Record, 44, 3-12.
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
Miguel Roig, Ph.D. Voice: (718) 390-4513
Assoc. Prof. of Psychology Fax: (718) 442-3612
Dept. of Psychology [EMAIL PROTECTED]
St. John's University [EMAIL PROTECTED]
300 Howard Avenue http://area51.stjohns.edu/~roig
Staten Island, NY 10301
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