INTRODUCTION
Significance of the Study
Accounting students are often exposed to numerous obstacles that hinder
their academic success (Tamayo, 2023). The demanding nature of their programs
involves mastering complex subjects such as financial accounting, taxation, auditing,
and business law, while also preparing for their rigorous qualifying exam and
ultimately the CPA board exam (Maghinay, 2024). These academic demands,
coupled with tight deadlines, high expectations, and the competitiveness required for
the accounting programs, can result in academic stress (Gobena, 2024). This stress
is not merely a temporary burden, as it directly influences their study habits, well-
being, and personal values, which may lead students to engage in unethical
practices (Ali and Aboelmaged, 2021). The behavior, if left unaddressed, may later
translate into professional misconduct once students enter the workplace (Mulisa
and Ebessa, 2021).
In previous studies, researchers found that unethical academic behaviour of
students was primarily driven by their individual characteristics and personal
motivations. According to Surahman and Wang (2022), Waltzer, Samuelson, and
Dahl (2024), and Zhang, Amos, and Pentina (2025), the results show that students'
decisions to cheat were strongly influenced by different factors such as perceived
lack of ability, laziness, and self-interest. Aside from those, it was shown in the study
of Anitha & Sundaram, 2021; Zhao et al., (2024) that students can be induced toward
unethical behaviour by parental expectations, peer influence, and broader societal
achievement orientations when academic success is perceived as significant for self-
worth. Beyond these individual factors, socio-cultural and environmental pressures
also significantly affect how a student behaves. Meanwhile, institutional and ethical
climate further shape student conduct. The academic environment of students,
specifically the faculty enforcement of ethical standards, peer norms, and the
broader ethical culture, can discourage misconduct, while a lack of these elements
may unintentionally encourage cheating (Rettinger et al., 2024; Cheng, Hung, & Hsu,
2021; Aguilar, 2021).
Despite the extensive literature, most studies were conducted in international
contexts or general tertiary education contexts. There is limited research focusing
specifically on accounting students in the Philippines, specifically at the University of
Southern Mindanao. While prior research highlights technological and systemic
enablers of academic dishonesty, such as the usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
tools and online solution manuals, as potential enablers of academic dishonesty
(Song, 2024; Cui et al., 2024; Ali et al., 2024). There is still a lack of empirical
evidence connecting policy-induced academic stress, such as stress from retention
requirements, to unethical behavior. The existing studies have not fully identified how
different types of stress interact with sociocultural pressures, personal
characteristics, and institutional environment in inducing students’ decisions to
engage in misconduct, particularly stress stemming from retention policies, to
academic dishonesty.
Therefore, this study can provide information and guidance to the students to
become aware of how stress triggers dishonest behavior and encourage them to
seek healthier ways to cope with academic stress. It would also help teachers and
academic institutions about the root causes of academic dishonesty and redesign
systems from solely punishing dishonesty to actively preventing it by modifying the
stressful academic environment and fairer assessments, which would uphold the
institution's integrity and quality of provided education. Additionally, it would provide
insights to the families of these students about the immense academic stress they
have undergone which allows them to be a source of support in their children's
academic journey. Lastly, it would serve as a reference for future researchers in
studying academic stress and unethical behavior.
Research Objectives
The main problem of the study is to determine the influence of academic
stress on the ethical behavior of accounting students from the University of Southern
Mindanao.
Specifically, it aims to:
1. To determine the Academic Stress experienced by accounting students
from the University of Southern Mindanao.
2. To determine the ethical behavior of accounting students from the
University of Southern Mindanao in terms of:
2.1. academic integrity,
2.2. honesty, and;
2.3. decision-making.
3. To determine the relationship between academic stress and the ethical
behavior of accounting students from the University of Southern Mindanao
in terms of:
3.1. academic integrity,
3.2. honesty, and;
3.3. decision-making.
