Ethical Beliefs Toward Academic Dishonesty: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Undergraduate Students in Ukraine and the United States

Little work has been done on beliefs toward academic misconduct in Ukraine. This study explored the beliefs of Ukrainian students toward various forms of academic misconduct and compared the results to the U.S. undergraduate students (N?=?270). Twenty-two forms of cheating, plagiarism, and questionable academic behaviors were grouped in five categories: unilateral cheating, collective cheating, falsification gaining favoritism, and performing extra work to receive better grades. Cross-cultural comparisons of beliefs were pivotal in this study. Results indicated that, in general, Ukrainian students are less likely to believe that academic misconduct is wrong compared to their U.S. counterparts, as well as seem to have different beliefs on what is and isn’t academic misconduct. Recommendations are proposed to help students change their beliefs and to reduce academic dishonesty. These recommendations also have application purposes outside of Ukraine.     

Examining the Factor Structure of the Revised Sense of Purpose Scale (SOPS-2) with Adults

Based on the multidimensional conceptualization of purpose, the sense of purpose scale is designed to measure three distinct constructs: awareness of purpose, altruistic purpose, and awakening to purpose. Building on previous work, the present study examined the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the revised sense of purpose scale (SOPS-2) and examined its associations with wellbeing among adults in three independent studies (N = 1209). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure and tests of measurement invariance were conducted across occupation (adult students and university employees) and gender (males and females). Positive correlations between sense of purpose and a number of constructs of socio-emotional wellbeing were found: positivity, humility, self-esteem, and moral identity (Study 2) and pride, compassion self-esteem, and life regret (Study 3). Taken together, findings suggest that the SOPS-2 can be used as a measure of sense of purpose in life in adults.