Weißmüller Kristina S, De Waele Lode
KPM Center for Public Management, Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Department of Organization Studies, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Res High Educ. 2022;63(5):768-796. doi: 10.1007/s11162-021-09669-1. Epub 2021 Dec 2.
Bribery is a complex and critical issue in higher education (HE), causing severe economic and societal harm. Traditionally, most scholarship on HE corruption has focused on institutional factors in developing countries and insights into the psychological and motivational factors that drive HE bribery on the micro-level mechanisms are virtually non-existent. To close this research gap, this study investigates the connection between study-related burnout and university students' willingness to offer bribes to their lecturers to pass important exams. Conducting a vignette-based quasi-experimental replication study with 624 university students in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands we find that university students in three countries differentiate sharply between different shades of bribery and that a majority accept using emotional influence tactics to pass (failed) exams. In contrast, offering a helping hand or money (i.e., darker shades of bribery) to their lecturer was less acceptable. Study-related burnout is associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in these darker shades of bribery and students' commitment to the public interest is but a weak factor in preventing unethical behavior. In summary, this study provides solid empirical evidence that university students are likely to use emotional influence tactics violating both the ethical codes of conduct and the formalized bureaucratic procedures of HE examination, particularly if they suffer from study-related burnout. However, the accelerating effect of burnout on bribery is conditional in that it only holds for darker shades of bribery. HE institutions may benefit from implementing the four-eye principle and from launching awareness campaigns that enable lecturers to better recognize these tactics and engage students in creating a transparent environment for testing, grading, and collaboration that is resistant to bribery.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11162-021-09669-1.
贿赂在高等教育中是一个复杂且关键的问题，会造成严重的经济和社会危害。传统上，大多数关于高等教育腐败的学术研究都集中在发展中国家的制度因素上，而对于微观层面驱动高等教育贿赂的心理和动机因素的见解几乎不存在。为了填补这一研究空白，本研究调查了与学习相关的倦怠与大学生为通过重要考试向讲师行贿意愿之间的联系。我们对德国、比利时和荷兰的624名大学生进行了基于 vignette 的准实验复制研究，发现这三个国家的大学生对不同程度的贿赂有明显区分，并且大多数人接受使用情感影响策略来通过（未通过的）考试。相比之下，向讲师提供帮助或金钱（即更严重的贿赂形式）则较难被接受。与学习相关的倦怠与参与这些更严重贿赂形式的可能性更高相关，而学生对公共利益的承诺在预防不道德行为方面只是一个微弱因素。总之，本研究提供了确凿的实证证据，表明大学生可能会使用违反高等教育考试道德行为准则和正式官僚程序的情感影响策略，特别是当他们遭受与学习相关的倦怠时。然而，倦怠对贿赂的加速作用是有条件的，因为它只适用于更严重的贿赂形式。高等教育机构可能会受益于实施四眼原则并开展提高认识运动，使讲师能够更好地识别这些策略，并促使学生营造一个抵制贿赂的透明考试、评分和协作环境。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s11162-021-09669-1获取的补充材料。
