The Relationship between Moral Judgment and Academic Dishonesty with the Mediating Role of Self-Control in High School Students

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of moral judgment on academic dishonesty with the mediating role of self-control in high school students. This study adopted a descriptive-correlation design using structural equation modeling (SEM). The statistical population of the study included all high school students (N = 10,000) in Urmia, West Azerbaijan province, in the academic year 2020-2021. Of these students, 380 students were selected by available sampling. Data collection tools included Moral Judgment Test (MJT), Academic Dishonesty Scale (ADS), and Self- Control Scale (SCS). Data analysis was performed using Pearson correlation analysis and SEM in SPSS version 22 and AMOS version 21. The results indicated that the structural model had a good fit. Moral judgment, both directly and indirectly through self-control, was found to be a negative and significant predictor of students’ academic dishonesty. Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that to reduce academic dishonesty, more attention should be paid to students’ moral judgment and self-control.