Moral Value, Peer Influence And Tendencies To Cybercrime Involvement Among Undergraduates In Public Universities In Cross River State

Abstract

The study investigated moral value, peer influence and tendencies to cybercrime involvement among undergraduates in Public Universities, Cross River State, Nigeria. The research questions formulated to guide this study were two and two hypotheses were also formulated.  Survey research design was adopted for the study.  The population of the study comprised all the 400 level students in the two conventional public universities in Cross River State which include University of Calabar and University of Cross River State with the total of 7020 students in 2021/2022 academic session. A sample of 400 undergraduates were randomly selected for the study through stratified sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a well-structured questionnaire titled; “Moral Value, Peer Influence and Tendencies to Cybercrime Involvement Questionnaire” (MVPITCIQ). Simple Linear Regression was the statistical technique employed to test the hypotheses at .05 level of significance. Findings revealed that, moral value, peer influence significantly predict tendencies to cybercrime involvement among undergraduates in Public Universities in Cross River State. Based on the conclusion drawn, it was recommended that parents, teachers and significant others should inculcate positive morals to students. Also, moral values education should be taught in our Universities so as to curb the problems of cybercrimes. This means that moral value and peer influence can predict students’ propensities to minimise indulgence in cybercrime.