Individual influences on honor concept violators at the U.S. Naval Academy

Abstract

This thesis examines the individual influences on midshipmen who violate the Honor Concept at the U.S. Naval Academy. Based on the theory of neutralization and drawing on previous research on dishonest behavior in college settings, the thesis hypothesizes that midshipmen who were exceptions to admissions standards are more likely to violate the Honor Concept. Unlike most previous studies that rely on self-reports through surveys, this study examined the records of midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy classes of 1996 through 2000. Logistic regression is used to identify statistically significant factors and the effect of each factors are athletic participation, race, academic major, military performance, and personality type. Controlling for other factors, midshipmen who were exceptions to admissions standards were found to be more likely to violate the Honor Concept.