Elucidating the Associations Between Achievement Goals and Academic Dishonesty: A Meta-Analysis

Achievement goals have been proposed as antecedents of academic dishonesty. Empirical find-ings underline the notion that mastery goals are negatively linked to academic dishonesty. However, even though theoretical considerations suggest positive associations for performance goals, empirical findings on this association are mixed. To provide a better understanding of how goals matter for academic dishonesty, we conducted three-level meta-analyses encom-passing 163 effect sizes from 33 studies and a total of 19,787 participants. We found a dispro-portional use of correlational designs (using self-report measures of academic dishonesty) and personal goal measures (opposed to surrounding goal structures). Evidence of publication bias was not found. Our results confirmed negative associations between mastery goals and aca-demic dishonesty and heterogenous results for performance goals, where positive associations were found in behavioral and intentional dishonesty measures, but not in self-reports. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. This research was funded by the German Research Foundation (Grant DA 2392/1–1 | JA 3137/1–1). notReviewed other