Cited by 4Academic integrity and plagiarismSleep and related disordersEthics in Business and Education

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 38 of the 38 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 53 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Millennials’ Sleep and Unethical Behavior: Testing the Relationship between Sleep and Academic Dishonesty of Millennials in a Korean University

Open access
Ha, Seongwook·2020·Sustainability

Abstract

This study empirically examined the impact of sleep quantity and sleep quality on academic dishonesty as a kind of unethical behavior with a sample of 237 millennials in a Korean university. Sleep quantity was calculated by subtracting bedtime, sleep latency, and wake after sleep onset (WASO) from wake-up time. Sleep quality was measured with the Insomnia Scale developed by Jenkins et al. (1988), and all items are reverse coded. Plagiarism and attitudes toward academic dishonesty (ATAD) were selected as unethical behaviors of millennials at the university. The results of this study are as follows: (1) sleep quantity and sleep quality have negative relationships with ego depletion; (2) ego depletion has no significant relationship with plagiarism or ATAD; (3) sleep quantity has no relationship with plagiarism or ATAD; (4) sleep quality has negative relationships with plagiarism and ATAD; (5) all four indirect effects of sleep quantity and sleep quality on plagiarism and ATAD through ego depletion are not significant. Based on the results, theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and the limitations of this study and recommendations for future research are provided.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This study tested whether sleep quantity and sleep quality predict academic dishonesty (plagiarism and attitudes toward academic dishonesty) among 237 Korean university millennials, with ego depletion as a proposed mediator. Sleep quality, but not sleep quantity, was negatively related to academic dishonesty, while ego depletion did not mediate the relationships.

Key findings

  • Sleep quantity and sleep quality were negatively related to ego depletion: B = −0.065, p < 0.05 for sleep quantity; B = −0.101, p < 0.001 for sleep quality.
  • Ego depletion was not significantly related to plagiarism (B = 0.102, ns) or ATAD (B = 0.051, ns).
  • Sleep quantity was not significantly related to plagiarism (B = −0.023, ns) or ATAD (B = 0.012, ns); sleep quality was negatively related to plagiarism (B = −0.031, p < 0.1) and ATAD (B = −0.072, p < 0.001).
  • All four indirect effects through ego depletion were not significant; for example, sleep quality → ego depletion → plagiarism was −0.010, 95% CI (−0.025, 0.003), and sleep quality → ego depletion → ATAD was −0.005, 95% CI (−0.023, 0.012).

Methods

  • Sample: 237 millennials enrolled in management courses at a Korean university; data collected across two semesters, with 105 students in the first semester and 132 in the second, using two surveys per semester. Sleep was measured in the first survey; plagiarism, ATAD, ego depletion, and time demand were measured in the second survey.
  • Measures: sleep quantity was calculated from Pittsburgh Sleep Diary reports of bedtime, sleep latency, and WASO subtracted from wake-up time; sleep quality used the Jenkins et al. Insomnia Scale reverse-coded; plagiarism used Ellahi et al.’s 4-item scale; ATAD used Davis et al.’s 4-item scale; ego depletion used 4 items from the State Self-Control Capacity Scale. Controls included gender, time demand, and exercise.
  • Analysis: factor analysis, correlations, hierarchical regression, and mediation tests using bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals over 5000 iterations.

Limitations

  • The paper states that future research should control a person’s desire to behave unethically, because the study examined only willpower/ego depletion and not desire as a possible moderator.
  • The paper states that because the sample completed two surveys with all self-rated variables, future research should limit common method effects by having a focal person’s manager rate unethical behavior and by partialing out trait affectivity.
  • Evident from the text: the sample is limited to 237 undergraduates in management courses at one Korean university, mostly male (154 males, 83 females), and all focal variables are self-reported, so generalizability and causal inference are constrained.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3390/su12093902

Cites

38 of 38 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Figures

Note : + p < 0.1; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; Huber-White heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors in parentheses. corrected bootstrap 95% confidence interval ( -0.023, 0.012), 90% confidence interval ( -0.019, 0.009) over 5000 iterations.
Note : + p < 0.1; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; Huber-White heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors in parentheses. corrected bootstrap 95% confidence interval ( -0.023, 0.012), 90% confidence interval ( -0.019, 0.009) over 5000 iterations.CC-BY · From the PDF

Verification

Claims the paper makes

22 No full text of the sources · 20 Own result · 11 Check pending · 10 Own method · 9 Own interpretation · 5 Not checked yet · 1 No basis given

Verify all 17 references — free account

Show all 48 claims

  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 6
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 26
30 of 30
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Under the Ego Depletion Model, self-control activities draw from a common, limited resource.

    “Self-control activities draw from a common resource under the Ego Depletion Model [22].”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    A person's self-regulatory resource is limited and can be depleted over time through self-regulation.

    “A person could be depleted over time as one engages in self-regulation, because one's self-regulatory resource is limited.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The sampled Korean university students are representative of millennials generally.

    “The results of this study showed that millennials with sleep problems are more likely to behave unethically, including being academically dishonest.”
    “Millennials in this study sleep 1 h less than average U.S. citizen.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Unethical behavior is a function of willpower and desire.

    “Although unethical behavior is a function of willpower and desire, this study only examined willpower and ego depletion.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The observed relationships between sleep quality and academic dishonesty are causal.

    “Sleep quality was shown to be a more important cause of unethical behavior than sleep quantity.”
5 of 5

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Philips, 2014, The 23-Year-olds will save America, Bloom. Bus. Week, 4384, 15
  2. Whang, 2004, The study on Korean’s lifestyles and its generational identity: A psychological model of “Generational Differences” in Korea, Korean J. Soc. Pers. Psychol., 18, 31

Cited by

Sorted by citations

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Metadata

Authors
Ha, S.
Affiliations
Hansung University (KR)
Corresponding author
Ha, Seongwook
Venue
Sustainability
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2020-05-11
Volume
12
Issue
9
Pages
3902
ISSN
2071-1050 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3023098974
Cited by
4
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1
FWCI
0.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Sustainability (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Hansung University (Hansung University)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Academic integrity and plagiarism
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Ethics in Business and Education
Keywords
sleep quantity, sleep quality, academic dishonesty, plagiarism, unethical behavior, millennials, ego depletion, university students, Korean higher education

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