The effect of other in-group members' organizational citizenship behavior on employees' organizational deviance: a moral licensing perspective

Canh Minh Nguyen

doi:10.1108/jabes-08-2020-0099

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the moral licensing effect of other in-group members' organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) on focal employees' organizational deviance through moral self-concept. This paper also examines the moderating role of in-group identification in the mediated relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe multilevel path analysis and bootstrapping technique are employed to analyze the findings of a sample of 340 employees in 56 workgroups in Vietnam.FindingsThe results demonstrate that moral self-concept mediates the positive relationship between other in-group members' OCB and focal employees' organizational deviance. Furthermore, the findings indicate that in-group identification strengthens the indirect effect of other in-group members' OCB on focal employees' organizational deviance via moral self-concept.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that managers should be aware of the potential negative consequences of OCB and the drawbacks of in-group identification in group contexts. In addition, practitioners should proactively prevent other in-group members' OCB from resulting in employees' organizational deviance.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine the moral licensing effect of OCB on organizational deviance through the moral self-concept mechanism and the moderating role of in-group identification in this mediated relationship.

Highlights

The purpose of this study is to investigate the moral licensing effect of other in-group members’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) on focal employees’ organizational deviance through moral selfconcept
Based on the vicarious self-concept theory (Goldstein and Cialdini, 2007), this study proposes that moral self-concept, defined as “an actor’s self-perception of being ethical” (Ashforth and Lange, 2016, p. 2), mediates the vicarious moral licensing effect of other in-group members’ OCB on focal employees’ organizational deviance
In an effort to address this gap in the literature, the present study examines the vicarious moral licensing effect of other ingroup members’ OCB on focal employees’ organizational deviance through moral selfconcept

Summary

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to investigate the moral licensing effect of other in-group members’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) on focal employees’ organizational deviance through moral selfconcept. Findings – The results demonstrate that moral self-concept mediates the positive relationship between other in-group members’ OCB and focal employees’ organizational deviance. Originality/value – This is the first study to examine the moral licensing effect of OCB on organizational deviance through the moral self-concept mechanism and the moderating role of in-group identification in this mediated relationship. Drawing on moral licensing theory (Miller and Effron, 2010) and the vicarious moral licensing model (Kouchaki, 2011), this study aims to investigate the ethical decisions of employees in the context of other in-group members’ behavioral history. The present research investigates the vicarious moral licensing effect of other in-group members’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) on employees’ organizational deviance through moral self-concept. These findings offer an empirical basis for organizations to actively prevent OCB from resulting in organizational deviance, thereby improving business sustainability

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