No difference in the intention to engage others in academic transgression among medical students from neighboring countries: a cross-national study on medical students from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Macedonia

AIM: To asses if the level of intention to engage others in academic transgressions was comparable among medical students from five schools from neighboring Southern-European countries: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia; and medical students from western EU studying at Split, Croatia. METHODS: Five medical schools were surveyed in 2011, with ≥87% of the targeted population sampled and a response rate of ≥76%. Students’ intention to engage a family member, friend, colleague, or a stranger in academic transgression was measured using a previously validated the Intention to Engage Others in Academic Transgression (IEOAT) questionnaire and compared with their intention to ask others for a non-academic, material favor. Data on students’ motivation measured by Work Preference Inventory scale, and general data were also collected. Multiple linear regression models of the intention to engage others in a particular behavior were developed. RESULTS: The most important determinants of the intention to engage others in academic transgression were psychological factors, such as intention to ask others for a material favor, or students’ motivation (median determinant’s β of 0.18, P ≤ 0.045 for all), whereas social and cultural factors associated with the country of origin were either weak (median β of 0.07, P ≤ 0.031) or not relevant. A significant proportion of students were aware of the ethical violations in academic transgressions (P ≤ 0.004 for all transgressions), but a large proportion of students also perceived academic cheating as a collective effort and were likely to engage people randomly (P ≤ 0.001 for all, but the most severe transgression). This collective effort was more pronounced for academic than non-academic behavior. CONCLUSION: Culture differences among neighboring Southern-European countries were not an important determinant of the intention to engage others in academic cheating.