| This research examined explanations for plagiarism behavior beyond those supported in previous literature. Prior studies focused primarily on cultural factors, specifically ethical deficits, as predictors of plagiarism, while the present study sought to supplement these with factors related to writing ability and cognitive load. Participants (N = 443) were asked to submit a writing sample, an attempted paraphrase exercise, a plagiarism knowledge survey and to respond to attitudinal, self-efficacy and behavioral measures. The paraphrase exercise consisted of both a high and low readability condition to determine the effect of text complexity on the writer's ability to paraphrase without plagiarizing. The dependent variable was operationalized as word strings of four or more and also as "patchwriting." A step-wise regression analysis of the variables did not support the attitudinal and behavioral factors of previous studies, with the exception of prior plagiarism behavior specifically. Instead the data analysis supported a model in which the primary predictors for plagiarism behavior were text complexity and writing ability. |
