Abstract
Drawing on the person-situation interactionist perspective of ethical behavior, we examine whether and how external work locus of control influences employees’ unethical pro-organizational behaviors (UPB). We propose a dual-path model in which the external work locus of control has both a direct and an indirect effect on UPB. For the indirect effect, we hypothesize a moderated mediation structure in which the indirect effect of external work locus of control on UPB through the perceived performance pressure is conditional on employees’ leader-member exchange (LMX) quality with their direct supervisors. The results from a time-lagged, three-wave sample of 452 employees in the service industries support our theoretical model. We find that external work locus of control is related positively to UPB. Moreover, LMX moderates the indirect relationship between external work locus of control and UPB through performance pressure, such that the indirect effect is stronger when LMX is high. These findings highlight the important role of external work locus of control as a dispositional antecedent of UPB, as well as the role of performance pressure and LMX, two situational factors, in predicting employees’ propensity to engage in UPB. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed herein.
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