Abstract
Although prior research has emphasized the disproportional contributions to organizations of charismatic leadership, an emerging line of research has started to examine the potentially negative consequences. In this paper, a theoretical framework was proposed for a study of unethical pro-organization behavior through psychological safety based on social information processing theory, which reveals the detrimental effect that charismatic leadership can have on workplace behavior. To explore this negative possibility, a time-lagged research design was applied for the hypotheses to be verified using 214 pieces of data collected from a service company in China. According to the results, unethical pro-organizational behavior was indirectly influenced by charismatic leadership through psychological safety. Moreover, when employees experienced high performance pressure, charismatic leadership was positively associated with unethical pro-organizational behavior through psychological safety. The implications of these findings were analyzed from the perspectives of charismatic leadership theory and organizational ethical activities to alter the unethical pro-organizational behavior.
Highlights
The detrimental effects of unethical behavior have been documented extensively and include detrimental effects on individual wellbeing, future careers, and organization survival
Departing from prior research examining the heroic aspects of charismatic leadership, we explored why and when charismatic leadership leads to adverse outcomes, such as unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB)
Our findings provide evidence that performance pressure can reinforce the relationship between charismatic leadership and UPB through psychological safety
Summary
The detrimental effects of unethical behavior have been documented extensively and include detrimental effects on individual wellbeing, future careers, and organization survival. Scholars have discovered that employees may perform unethical behavior for the interest of their company, such as lying to clients or hiding information from the public To understand these unique phenomena, Umphress et al proposed the construct of unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), which refers to activities conducted to potentially enhance the operation of the company, leaders, or members, yet breaches critical social values and damages the interests of external stakeholders [1]. Researchers have conducted studies on the antecedents of UPB based on social identity theory, social exchange theory, and social learning theory [2,3,4] These researchers argued that UPB is significantly associated with leadership style [5,6,7], individual differences [8,9], personality, and values [10], as well as job characteristics [11]. Leadership plays a crucial role in employees’
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