Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy, and the Academic Dishonesty among Freshmen College Students: A Mixed Method Study

Amidst the competition in college and in life, students face challenges related to their self-esteem and self-efficacy. In academic context, these two psychological constructs were found to be related to freshmen college students’ engagement on academic dishonesty. This mixed method study delves into the relationship of self-esteem and self-efficacy to academic dishonesty, aiming to visualize a bigger picture and understand why freshmen college students resort to academic dishonesty. Using a standardized questionnaire, the study reveals that freshmen college students report a mean score of 2.50 in self-esteem, interpreted as high, characterized by higher self-worth; and a mean score of 2.79 in self-efficacy, interpreted as high. Freshmen college students’ self-esteem is found to be significantly correlated to academic dishonesty (r = -.301; p-value = .001), and freshmen college students’ self-efficacy is found to be not significantly correlated to academic dishonesty (r = -0.72; p-value = .445). A one-on-one interview was conducted to a set of respondents that have lower self-esteem and self-efficacy, the study reveals that there are freshmen college students who confess to be engaging in academic dishonesty accompanied with signs of low self-esteem and self-efficacy. Self-critiques, approval seekers, and justifiers; these were the themes that described the students who participated in the interview phase. In essence, the quantitative shows that the higher the self-esteem and self-efficacy, the lower the tendency for the freshmen college students to engage in academic dishonesty. However, the qualitative study has strengthened the quantitative findings as the cards are flipped and revealed that students having lower self-esteem and self-efficacy have a higher tendency to engage in academic dishonesty.