An investigatory study into students’ attitudes towards the piracy of digital material
Authors
Holland, Geraldine
Issue Date
2013
Degree
Higher Diploma in Arts in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate students’ attitudes relating to favourableness/ unfavourableness towards digital piracy, specifically with regard to gender differences, age differences, levels of self efficacy, machiavellianism and subjective norms. This was a crosssectional survey design combined with a correlational study in which 102 participants from Psychology classes in Dublin Business School were surveyed with three questionnaires: the Digital Piracy Scale, the General Self Efficacy Scale and the MACH-IV Scale. The findings provided three significant results – i) males have a more favourable attitude over females; ii) younger students have a more favourable attitude over older students and iii) subjective norms and attitudes were found to have an existing correlation; no significant results were found with self-efficacy and machiavellianism. Author keywords: attitudes, digital piracy, machiavellianism, subjective norms, self efficacy