Ego and academic ethics: Investigating the association of narcissistic antagonism, agentic extraversion, and neuroticism with academic entitlement and academic dishonesty.

The present preregistered study (N = 353) explored the associations of three facets of narcissism (antagonism, agentic extraversion, and neuroticism) with academic entitlement and attitudes toward academic dishonesty. We hypothesized that narcissistic antagonism (H1), agentic extraversion (H2), and neuroticism (H3) would be positively correlated with academic entitlement. We also hypothesized that narcissistic antagonism (H4), agentic extraversion (H5), and neuroticism (H6) would be positively correlated with the acceptance of academic dishonesty. Our results showed that antagonism was positively correlated with academic entitlement and academic dishonesty. Furthermore, agentic extraversion was positively correlated with academic entitlement but not academic dishonesty. Neuroticism was associated with neither academic entitlement nor academic dishonesty. The present findings indicate that certain precursory traits may predict the likelihood of someone feeling academically entitled and, therefore, willing to engage in academically dishonest behaviors. These findings have implications for the field of education.