Understanding academic dishonesty during the thesis-writing process: A case study of students majoring in tourism and hospitality

Academic dishonesty is a pervasive problem in Chinese higher education, with both motivational and contextual factors influencing students’ behavior. This study integrates self-determination theory (SDT) and the motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) model to investigate why students engage in academic dishonesty during thesis writing and their decision-making processes. SDT emphasizes intrinsic motivation and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, including competence, autonomy, and relatedness. The MOA model posits that behaviors result from the interaction of motivation, ability, and opportunity. Through qualitative interviews with students majoring in tourism and hospitality, this research demonstrates that students with lower levels of self-determination (i.e., lack of autonomy, lack of competence, and lack of relatedness) show a limited willingness to complete thesis tasks in a moral manner. Moderated by ability frustration and opportunity frustration, the motivation to be dishonest leads to actual immoral behavior. This study sheds light on the complex factors driving academic dishonesty and offers insights for addressing this issue in higher education.