Examining Cross-Cultural Differences in Academic Faking in 41 Nations

Abstract

This study examines cross-cultural differences in students’ academic faking (indicated by claiming to have impossible knowledge about mathematical concepts) by relating data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to the comprehensive cultural framework of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) project. Data of N = 233,428 students from 41 countries showed a substantial amount of variance in academic faking between cultures. Students’ academic faking was positively related to the cultural dimensions of gender egalitarianism, humane orientation, and in-group collectivism. Additionally, the similarity between female and male students’ academic faking was slightly greater in more gender-egalitarian cultures than in less gender-egalitarian cultures. Thus, educational stakeholders (e.g., teachers, principals, and policy-makers) should be made aware of cross-cultural differences in academic faking because faking gives fakers an unfair advantage.