Putting the Honor Back in Academic Honor Systems

Bibliographic Data

ID12839713
AuthorsKelly Cheung (0000-0002-6759-8356, University of Virginia), Amrisha Vaish (0000-0001-8908-9782, University of Virginia)
Year2024
Volume23
Issue3
Pages441-461
Publication date2024-10-11
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Academic Ethics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1570-1727 • E-ISSN: 1572-8544
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s10805-024-09575-y
OpenAlexW4403325059
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited35

In higher education in the United States, the language of honor is prevalent in academic settings. For the purposes of creating a fair educational environment and aiding in students’ personal character development, many universities and colleges implement honor systems that require students to adhere to honor codes. Most of these honor systems penalize forms of academic dishonesty, with some extending to include inappropriate social behaviors such as discrimination and harassment. We argue that the focus of academic honor systems on sanctioning honor violations overemphasizes the extrinsic motivation for compliance and detracts from the intended goal to nurture personal character development and the intrinsic motivation to act honorably. Despite this divergence from their intended goal, academic honor systems should be preserved because, if modified to align with the psychological principles underlying intrinsic motivation and the internalization of and adherence to moral norms, they can serve the significant goal, especially in an educational setting, of shaping individuals and a society that value honor and integrity

Honor · Internet privacy · Academic Freedom and Politics · Academic integrity and plagiarism · Computer Science · Ethics in Business and Education

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Open DOIOpen Access