When life domains become problematic: A criminological exploration of academic dishonesty in Iran using Agnew's general theory of crime and delinquency

Academic dishonesty remains a widespread and complex challenge across educational institutions globally. This study applied Agnew's (2005) General Theory of Crime and Delinquency to examine the relationship between problematic life domains and students' engagement in academic dishonesty using a sample of 424 students from the University of Tehran. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the data, revealing significant associations between all four problematic life domains - self, family, academic, and peer and academic dishonesty. The results further demonstrated that motivations for and constraints against academic dishonesty mediate the relationship between problematic life domains and dishonest behaviors. Additionally, interactions between troubling life domains influenced academic dishonesty, and these domains also moderated the relationship between motivations, constraints, and academic dishonesty. Findings from multigroup analyses highlighted partial gender differences in these pathways, suggesting that the factors influencing academic dishonesty may operate differently across male and female students.