In prior studies, academic procrastination has been discussed as an influencing factor of academic misconduct. However, empirical studies were conducted solely cross-sectionally and investigated only a few forms of academic misconduct. This large scale web-based study examined the responses of between 1359 and 2207 participants from different academic disciplines at four German universities to address the effect of academic procrastination on seven different forms of academic misconduct (using fraudulent excuses, plagiarism, copying from someone else in exams, using forbidden means in exams, carrying forbidden means into exams, copying parts of homework from others, and fabrication or falsification of data) and its variety. In measuring academic procrastination six months prior to academic misconduct, we found that academic procrastination affected the frequency of all forms of academic misconduct and its variety. We found the strongest effect of academic procrastination on using fraudulent excuses. Implications for university counseling and theory are discussed.

Objective:Stigmatizing attitudes toward people with a drug addiction have detrimental effects on the lives of these people. However, the factors that influence stigma toward people with a drug addiction have not yet been thoroughly investigated, compared with the stigma of other mental illnesses. Based on attribution theory, our experiment examined to what extent individual and contextual characteristics of people with a drug addiction influence stigmatizing attitudes toward people with a drug addiction. Moreover, we explored whether respondent characteristics indicative of familiarity with addiction decrease stigma toward people with a drug addiction.Method:We conducted a full factorial survey of 2,857 respondents from a German online access panel who were from all walks of life. We experimentally varied vignettes (29-design) that featured a fictional person with an addiction. Stigmatizing beliefs, such as blame or fear, were assessed using the Attribution Questionnaire (AQ-9).Results:Different attribute...

Stimulant drugs, transcranial magnetic stimulation, brain-computer interfaces, and even genetic modifications are all discussed as forms of potential cognitive enhancement. Cognitive enhancement can be conceived as a benefit-seeking strategy used by healthy individuals to enhance cognitive abilities such as learning, memory, attention, or vigilance. This phenomenon is hotly debated in the public, professional, and scientific literature. Many of the statements favoring cognitive enhancement (e.g., related to greater productivity and autonomy) or opposing it (e.g., related to health-risks and social expectations) rely on claims about human welfare and human flourishing. But with real-world evidence from the social and psychological sciences often missing to support (or invalidate) these claims, the debate about cognitive enhancement is stalled. In this paper, we describe a set of crucial debated questions about psychological and social aspects of cognitive enhancement (e.g., intrinsic motivation, well-being) and explain why they are of fundamental importance to address in the cognitive enhancement debate and in future research. We propose studies targeting social and psychological outcomes associated with cognitive enhancers (e.g., stigmatization, burnout, mental well-being, work motivation). We also voice a call for scientific evidence, inclusive of but not limited to biological health outcomes, to thoroughly assess the impact of enhancement. This evidence is needed to engage in empirically informed policymaking, as well as to promote the mental and physical health of users and non-users of enhancement.

Enhancing cognitive performance with substances–especially prescription drugs–is a fiercely debated topic among scholars and in the media. The empirical basis for these discussions is limited, given that the actual nature of factors that influence the acceptability of and willingness to use cognitive enhancement substances remains unclear. In an online factorial survey, contextual and substance-specific characteristics of substances that improve academic performance were varied experimentally and presented to respondents. Students in four German universities rated their willingness to use and moral acceptance of different substances for cognitive enhancement. We found that the overall willingness to use performance enhancing substances is low. Most respondents considered the use of these substances as morally unacceptable. Situational influences such as peer pressure, policies concerning substance use, relative performance level of peers, but also characteristics of the substance, such as perceptions of substance safety, shape the willingness and acceptability of using a substance to enhance academic performance. Among the findings is evidence of a contagion effect meaning that the willingness was higher when the respondents have more CE drug users in their social network. We also found deterrence effects from strong side effects of using the substance, as well as from policy regulations and sanctions. Regulations might activate social norms against usage and sanctions can be seen as costly to users. Moreover, enhancement substances seem to be most tempting to low performers to catch up with others compared to high performers. By identifying contextual factors and substance characteristics influencing the willingness and acceptability of cognitive enhancers, policy approaches could consider these insights to better manage the use of such substances.

This online panel study (n_t1 = 5,882; n_t2 = 3,486 (randomly selected)) used multiple metrics to assess the prevalence of the nonmedical use of prescription medication for enhancing cognitive performance among German university students in 2010. Rare events logistic regression revealed that increased cognitive test anxiety increased the prevalence of medication use over various time windows. Negative binomial regression models showed that the higher the cognitive test anxiety, the higher the use frequencies were during the previous six months. The models controlled for expected side effects, risk attitudes, self-attributed competencies, prior medication use, sex, and age. We also discuss the study's implications.

Cognitive enhancement (CE) is the pharmaceutical augmentation of mental abilities (e.g., learning or memory) without medical necessity. This topic has recently attracted widespread attention in scientific and social circles. However, knowledge regarding the mechanisms that underlie the decision to use CE medication is limited. To analyze these decisions, we used data from two online surveys of randomly sampled university teachers (N = 1,406) and students (N = 3,486). Each respondent evaluated one randomly selected vignette with regard to a hypothetical CE drug. We experimentally varied the characteristics of the drugs among vignettes and distributed them among respondents. In addition, the respondent’s internalization of social norms with respect to CE drug use was measured. Our results revealed that students were more willing to enhance cognitive performance via drugs than university teachers, although the overall willingness was low. The probability of side effects and their strength reduced the willingness to use CE drugs among students and university teachers, whereas higher likelihoods and magnitudes of CE increased this propensity. In addition, the internalized norm against CE drug use influenced decision making: Higher internalization decreased the willingness to use such medications. Students’ internalized norms more strongly affected CE abstinence compared with those of university teachers. Furthermore, internalized norms negatively interacted with the instrumental incentives for taking CE medication. This internalization limited the influence of and deliberation on instrumental incentives. This study is the first to provide empirical evidence regarding the importance of social norms and their influence on rational decision making with regard to CE. We identified previously undiscovered decision-making patterns concerning CE. Thus, this study provides insight into the motivators and inhibitors of CE drug use. These findings have implications for contending with CE behavior by highlighting the magnitude of potential side effects and by informing the debate regarding the ethics of CE use.