Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Aug 2022)

Machiavellian Medical Students Report More Academic Misconduct: A Cocktail Fuelled by Psychological and Contextual Factors

  • Veríssimo AC,
  • Conrado GA,
  • Barbosa J,
  • Gomes SF,
  • Severo M,
  • Oliveira P,
  • Ribeiro L

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 2097 – 2105

Abstract

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Ana Cristina Veríssimo,1,* George AM Conrado,1,2,* Joselina Barbosa,1 Sandra F Gomes,1,3 Milton Severo,4,5 Pedro Oliveira,4,5 Laura Ribeiro1,6 1Department of Public Health and Forensic Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; 2University of Pernambuco, Pernambuco, Brazil; 3Department of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; 4Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; 5Institute of Public Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; 6I3S-Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Laura Ribeiro, Department of Public Health and Forensic Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Al. Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, Porto, Portugal, Tel +35 1 22 0426994, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Maladaptive personality traits and some psychological functioning indicators have been linked to academic misbehaviour; yet their role is still poorly explored in medical students. This study aims to assess associations of academic misconduct with dark personality traits and psychological well-being.Methods: Five hundred and ninety-one medical students attending the first, third and fifth-year at one Portuguese medical school replied to the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen, Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scales and an original Academic Misconduct Questionnaire, using a cross-sectional design. Multiple linear regression was performed to assess associations.Results: Fifth-year medical students who scored higher in Machiavellianism and psychological well-being and perceived greater peer fraud and lower penalty for cheating reported more academic misconduct. The explanatory power of the model was 16.6%. Machiavellianism showed the strongest associations with cheating, while sex and age were not significant predictors.Conclusion: This study offers relevant insights into how maladaptive personalities influence academic misconduct in medical students, and how this relationship is moulded by psychological and contextual factors. These findings can help guide institutional actions to foster academic integrity in future physicians.Keywords: academic integrity, dark personality traits, psychological well-being, medical education

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