Doing Bad Things for Good Reasons: An Examination of Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior Among Professional Workers

Abstract

While generating many of the same costs associated with unethical behavior at work, unethical pro-organizational behavior poses a unique challenge. It suggests a “dark side” to constructs thought to be productive, like organizational identification. Research suggests that individuals identifying highly with their organization are more likely to engage in unethical pro-organizational behavior. This study calls into question previous findings that organizational identification predicts unethical pro-organizational behavior. It validates previous findings of a negative association between moral identity and moral disengagement and a positive association between moral disengagement and unethical pro-organizational behavior. It also provides the first empirical evidence of a negative association between work engagement and moral disengagement. While pointing to variables that practitioners can manipulate to mitigate the risk of unethical pro-organizational behavior, the present study highlights the complexity of predicting and responding to the dark side of organizational identification.