Investigating Parental Pressure and Test Anxiety as Predictors of Examination Malpractice Tendency among University Undergraduate Students in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

Examination malpractice has been reported as a problem in education systems globally; recently in Nigeria the problem has become alarming and requires more attention. This study investigates parental pressure and test anxiety as predictors of examination malpractice tendency among undergraduate students at the University of Calabar and Cross River State University, Nigeria. Survey design was adopted, the study population comprised 3,068 final year undergraduate students in Faculties of Education in the two Universities (UNICAL = 1,811, CRSU = 1,257) and a sample of 1,534 selected through purposive and accidental sampling procedure. Two research questions and two corresponding hypotheses guided the study. “Parental pressure, Test Anxiety and Examination Malpractice Tendencies Questionnaire (PPTA & EMTQ)” with a Cronbach Alpha reliability estimate of .83 was used to collect data.  Data was analyzed using simple linear regression. Results revealed that parental pressure and test anxiety are significant contributors to examination malpractice tendencies among undergraduate students. It was recommended that school counselors in conjunction with school management and Ministry of Education should organize counseling conferences at regular intervals to counsel parents on how to stop undue pressure on their wards, as well as counsel students on how to avoid test anxiety.