Contextualizing Unethical Prosocial Behaviors from Relational Perspectives

Abstract

A burgeoning literature examines a fairly recent area of research - unethical pro-social behavior (UPB), that is, unethical behavior motivated by the desire to benefit other individuals or entities (e.g., group, organization) (Chen, Chen, & Sheldon, 2016; Umpress & Bingham, 2011; Umpress, Bingham & Mitchell, 2010) - has drawn the attention of scholars to a number of important antecedents, such as organizational culture, organizational norms, and leader behavior. This symposium is designed to further the field’s knowledge in this realm by examining UPB from various relational perspectives. The four papers included in the symposium shed novel light on UPB as a relational phenomenon by using a variety of research designs, study populations, and methods. Taken together, our symposium highlights relational contexts, intermediary mechanisms, and outcomes of UPB. Systematic Injustice and Preference for Unethical and Ethical Leaders Presenter: Carolyn Thi Dang; Pennsylvania State U. Presenter: Elizabeth Eve Umphress; U. of Washington Felt Obligation as a Driver of Immoral Decisions in Triadic Social Exchanges Presenter: Liuba Belkin; Lehigh U. Presenter: Dejun Kong; U. of South Florida Does Justice Make Us More or Less Ethical? How Fair Treatment Can Lead to Unethical Behavior Presenter: Oliver Sheldon; Rutgers U. Presenter: Batia Mishan Wiesenfeld; New York U. Weighing Commitment and Liability in the Selection of Rule Breakers Presenter: S Wiley Wakeman; Stockholm School of Economics Presenter: Philip Yang; U. of Tuebingen