Do Impulsivity and Moral Disengagement Mediate the Relationship between Dark Personality Traits and Academic Dishonesty in University Students?

Aim: This study aimed to examine the structural relationships between the Dark Triad personality traits (Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and Narcissism), moral disengagement, impulsivity, and academic dishonesty among university students.Methods: The current study was a descriptive-correlational study that employed a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The research society was Urmia University students. The cluster sampling method was used in this study (N = ۳۸۵, ۵۵.۳۰% female and ۴۴.۷۰% male, Meanage = ۱۹.۶۰, SDage = ۱.۶۵). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with SPSS-۲۴ and AMOS-۲۶ software. To collect data, the Moral Disengagement Scale, Short Scale of Dark Personality, Traits- The Dirty Dozen, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-۱۱) and Academic Dishonesty Questionnaire were used. Results: The analysis confirmed that all three structural models demonstrated excellent fit indices (e.g., for Narcissism: CMIN/DF=۲.۰۰CMIN/DF = ۲.۰۰CMIN/DF=۲.۰۰, CFI=۰.۹۳CFI = ۰.۹۳CFI=۰.۹۳, GFI=۰.۹۳GFI = ۰.۹۳GFI=۰.۹۳, RMSEA=۰.۰۵RMSEA = ۰.۰۵RMSEA=۰.۰۵). Findings revealed that while Psychopathy had a direct effect on academic dishonesty, the influence of all three Dark Triad traits was significantly mediated by moral disengagement and impulsivity. Specifically, the pathways of influence varied across traits: Machiavellianism and Psychopathy were strongly linked to dishonesty through both mediators, whereas Narcissism’s impact was primarily driven by impulsivity and its indirect link through moral disengagement.Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that the psychological mechanisms underlying academic dishonesty differ across the Dark Triad traits. The present findings extend the application of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by demonstrating that background personality characteristics may influence academic dishonesty through different psychological pathways. Moral disengagement emerged as a primary mechanism for psychopathy and Machiavellianism, whereas impulsivity preceded moral disengagement only in the narcissism model. These findings suggest that incorporating moral-cognitive mechanisms into TPB may provide a more comprehensive explanation of unethical academic behavior These findings suggest that educational interventions should focus on enhancing both moral reasoning and emotional self-regulation to effectively mitigate academic misconduct

کلیدواژه ها:

Academic dishonesty ، impulsivity ، dark personality traits ، Moral Disengagement ، university students