Investigating the Ethical Factors Justifying and Inhibiting Academic Cheating among the Students of Accounting

Background : Cheating in universities is an instance of violation of ethics and breaking the rules, that has become so common among the students. If this phenomenon is considered as a usual matter, it can affect the person’s life and become a habit. Method : This re search has investigated students of accounting. 308 accounting students were selected as the sample by using simple random sampling. The tool used for measuring the variables was a questionnaire designed based on the questionnaire used by Dikov et al (1999 ). Data analysis was done by using SPSS software, iate regression analysis, t test, and Kolmogorov Smirnov tests. Results : According to the findings, there is a significance difference between cheaters and non cheaters in terms of adopting cheati ng neutralization. Also, there is a significant difference between cheaters and non cheaters in terms of understanding the effectiveness of cheating inhibitors. There is no significant difference between male and female cheaters and between male and female non cheaters in terms of adopting cheating neutralization. Also, there is no significant difference between male and female cheaters and between male and female non cheaters in terms of understanding the effectiveness of cheating inhibitors. Conclusion : C heaters and non cheaters have different attitudes towards adoption of cheating neutralization. They are also different in terms of understating the effectiveness of cheating inhibitors. Gender is not effective in people’s attitude towards cheating neutrali zation and understanding of the effectiveness of cheating inhibitors.