Type Of Unethical Behavior Research Articles

Impact of air pollution on human morality: A multinational perspective

This study aimed to investigate whether global air pollution harms human morals beyond physiological and psychological health. To accomplish this, we conducted an original survey involving over 80,000 individuals across 30 countries, inquiring about their recent perceived unethical behaviors. Through regression analyses, we identified global evidence of a positive correlation between local monthly average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and perceptions of unethical behavior. This finding suggests that air pollution may potentially elicit unethical behavior through a complex response mechanism. It is noteworthy that the impact of air pollution on the inclination to perceive unethical behavior is heterogeneous across categories of unethical behavior and countries. For example, the effects of increasing air pollution concentrations vary even within the same European country: an increase in NO2 concentration in Greece and the Netherlands augments the inclination to perceive fatal unethical behaviors such as murder, terrorism, and suicide, while in Germany, NO2 concentration diminishes the inclination to perceive the same types of unethical behaviors. Overall, the societal costs of air pollution may be even more far-reaching than previously acknowledged, and further research is necessary to unveil the intricate response mechanisms underlying this issue.

How Moral Goodness Drives Unethical Behavior: Empirical Evidence for the NGO Halo Effect

With the occurrence of high-profile scandals in the nongovernmental organization (NGO) sector, scholars and practitioners alike have questioned why “good” organizations behave badly, yet little empirical research has explored this topic in depth. The present study examines the NGO halo effect, a conceptual framework that proposes three mechanisms to explain how NGO moral goodness can lead to NGO unethical behavior, that is, moral justification, moral superiority, and moral naivety. Through an analysis of 34 interviews with NGO staff and volunteers, we identify 151 unique cases and 17 different types of unethical behavior. We find that 92% of these cases are related to the halo effect, with 22% through moral justification, 25% through moral superiority, and 45% through moral naivety. This study provides empirical support for the NGO halo effect as a factor for understanding NGOs’ unethical behavior, with implications for future research.

비윤리적 친조직 행동이 고용의도에 미치는 영향

Tremendous costs created by corporate scandals have enhanced social and scholarly attention to employee unethical behaviors. Among various types of unethical behaviors, unethical pro-organizational behaviors (UPB), with their unique qualities of unethicality and pro-organizational orientation, elicit ambivalent attitudes from observers. Shifting from previous approaches that focused on either actors or ingroup observers, the current research aimed to explore the attitudes of outgroup observers toward a hypothetical job applicant who either engaged in or refused to engage in UPB. Especially, drawing on moral utility theory (Hirsh et al., 2018) that considers subjective expected utility of behaviors, the current research explored how observers’ consideration of future consequences moderates the relationship between collectivistic orientation and reaction to the applicant’s UPB history. The current online experimental study involved hypothetical scenarios, and analysis was conducted on 173 workers in Korea who completed both questionnaires with two waves. First, participants preferred candidates with no UPB-related episode over others, supporting Hypothesis 1. Second, consistent with Hypothesis 2, the three-way interaction among UPB condition, collectivistic orientation, and consideration of future consequences was supported. Specifically, in UPB condition, when consideration of future consequences is high, collectivistic orientation was positively associated with hiring intentions; however, when consideration of future consequences is low, collectivistic orientation was negatively associated with hiring intentions. Finally, Hypothesis 3 was not supported because the higher the collectivistic orientation, the higher the hiring intentions, regardless of the level of consideration of future consequences. This study contributed to expanding UPB research by comprehensively considering the response of third parties to the applicant’s UPB history and empirically testing the effects of moderating variables. Finally, based on the research findings, we provided practical implications.

Exploring Antecedents of Two Different Types of Unethical Behavior

Exploring Antecedents of Two Different Types of Unethical Behavior

The Differential Role of Stress on Police Officers’ Perceptions of Misconduct

This study examines the influence of stress, by way of subdimensions of anxiety, and depression, on police officers’ perceptions of the seriousness of various forms of misconduct in the context of China. Findings show that different dimensions of stress have differing effects on the level of seriousness ascribed, and those influences vary based on the type of unethical behavior. While depression reduces officers’ perceived seriousness of misconduct, the effects of anxiety on perceptions are more nuanced. The study suggests the development of related policies to curb unethical behavior should consider stress, and its related subdimensions, while also considering how subgroups of officers may respond to stress in different ways. The realization of these efforts may contribute to the development of targeted interventions for improving ethical thinking and decision-making among police officers.

Organizational Information Security Management for Sustainable Information Systems: An Unethical Employee Information Security Behavior Perspective

This article examines the occurrences of four types of unethical employee information security behavior—misbehavior in networks/applications, dangerous Web use, omissive security behavior, and poor access control—and their relationships with employees’ information security management efforts to maintain sustainable information systems in the workplace. In terms of theoretical contributions, this article identifies and develops reliable and valid instruments to measure different types of unethical employee information security behavior. In addition, it investigates factors affecting different types of such behavior and how such behavior can be used to predict employees’ willingness to report information security incidents. In terms of managerial contributions, the article suggests that information security awareness programs and perceived punishment have differential effects on the four types of unethical behavior and that certain types of unethical information security behavior exert negative effects on employees’ willingness to report information security incidents. The findings will help managers to derive better security rules and policies, which are important for business continuity.

Determinante etičkih uverenja pravnika u Srbiji

Examining of the moral beliefs of current and future members of the legal profession is an important step toward properly understanding and defining the factors that influence their formation and change. This paper presents an analysis of the moral beliefs of different categories of legal professionals in Serbia, using factor analysis (principal components analysis) on a sample of 325 respondents, attorneys at law, legal trainees, and students. The impact of socio-demographic factors (gender, age, position, and length of service) on moral beliefs is analyzed. We present areas and norms where the greatest discrepancy between beliefs and the Code in force exists. The most important findings indicate that respondents' age and work experience directly influence stricter ethical beliefs when it comes to certain types of unethical behavior.

Product market competition, market munificence and firms’ unethical behavior

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the effect of product market competition on firms’ unethical behavior (FUB) in the Chinese insurance industry and to further explore the boundary conditions of the main effects. On the basis of China’s commercial foundation, the study constructs a conceptual framework of FUB by drawing from the perspective of horizontal competition.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 52 property insurance firms at the branch level observed over the six-year period, 2011-2016. Within this framework, market power and market concentration were used to describe product market competition at firm and industry levels, respectively. The moderating effect of market munificence was analyzed to reveal the theoretical boundaries of the main effect. By drawing upon cost–benefit analysis and social network theory, the study used negative binomial model and Poisson model to quantitatively examine the relationship.FindingsThe relationship between product market competition and FUB is curvilinear. Especially at the firm level, market power exhibits a U-shape relationship with FUB; at the industry level, market concentration exhibits a U-shape relationship with FUB. In addition, market munificence positively moderates the impact of firm’s market power on FUB, whereas, market munificence negatively moderates the impact of industrial market concentration on FUB.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper explored a new type of unethical behavior that concerns consumers or the third party by emphasizing horizontal competitive contexts; it also provides a better understanding of the FUB–financial performance relationship from the perspective of competition. The moderating effects suggest that when the cause of FUB is different (market power vs market concentration), firms may make opposite ethical choice. However, the sample is from a single industry; it will be fruitful to further verify these findings in other industries such as the manufacturing sector. Moreover, the definition of FUB is confined to explicit forms such as participation or collusion but there is no way to measure the implicit forms of FUB.Practical implicationsFirst, the governance of FUB should not only focus on the firms themselves, but also take into account the industrial market structure. Second, proper use of governance measures for FUB can increase firms’ benefits from “compliance with the law”, enticing firms to decrease FUB. The third, firms with weak market positions, facing fierce competition, should not be involved in FUB for short-term benefit; indeed, a low-cost strategy can be adopted as the dominant competitive strategy. While, in cases of highly concentrated market structure, firms should strive to avoid involvement in FUB through collusion with other rivals.Social implicationsAs it is a very common phenomenon that firms in competitive relationships may adopt FUB toward third parties or consumers, this trend has become a hot topic in the economic and social development in China. The study’s conclusions reveal that a more proactive and ambitious ethical decision is desirable for all kinds of firms; moreover, firms should make a rational choice between “short-term interest” and “long-term survival”. When firms identify the compliance of business ethics as an opportunity to differentiate themselves and perceive the benefits of decreasing FUB as outweighing the costs, the level of FUB will be inhibited, and social welfare will increase.Originality/valueThe primary contribution of this research resides in identifying product market competition as a previously unexplored predictor of FUB, thus revealing the dark side of product market competition. In addition, nonlinear relationships between product market competition and FUB indicate that situations of competition exert an important influence on FUB both at the firm and industry level. This paper’s conclusion provides a more meticulous theoretical explanation for FUB. This research demonstrates that the traditional ethical framework is not sufficient to explain FUB in a horizontal competitive context. Indeed, resource constraints and competitive pressures should also be considered.

Investigating When and Why Psychological Entitlement Predicts Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior

In this research, we examine the relationship between employee psychological entitlement (PE) and employee willingness to engage in unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). We hypothesize that a high level of PE–the belief that one should receive desirable treatment irrespective of whether it is deserved–will increase the prevalence of this particular type of unethical behavior. We argue that, driven by self-interest and the desire to look good in the eyes of others, highly entitled employees may be more willing to engage in UPB when their personal goals are aligned with those of their organizations. Support for this proposition was found in Study 1, which demonstrates that organizational identification accentuates the link between PE and the willingness to engage in UPB. Study 2 builds on these findings by examining a number of mediating variables that shed light on why PE leads to a greater willingness among employees to engage in UPB. Furthermore, we explored the differential effects of PE on UPB compared to counterproductive work behavior (CWB). We found support for our moderated mediation model, which shows that status striving and moral disengagement fully mediate the link between PE and UPB. PE was also linked to CWB, and was fully mediated by perceptions of organizational justice and moral disengagement.

Social Norms Regarding Bribing in India: An Experimental Analysis

Abstract We conduct incentive-compatible economic experiments to measure norms regarding social appropriateness of bribes in India. We adopt a stylized real world situation (obtaining a driver’s license) in which the possibility to engage in unethical behavior is common. Using coordination game technique to elicit social norms, we measure social appropriateness of engaging in this type of unethical behavior. We find that the social appropriateness ratings of bribing vary with the bribe amount. For smaller bribes, there is a lack of coordination on the modal social appropriateness rating, whereas larger bribes are considered inappropriate by the majority of participants. We also vary the information regarding common behaviors at the driver’s license testing facility by letting participants know in some treatments that bribe-taking by public officials is prevalent. When bribe-giving and bribe-taking are framed as widespread behaviors, participants perceive bribes to be less socially inappropriate. JEL Codes...

The relationship between the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory and violations of business ethics in China: Unbalanced time perspective increases the acceptance of unethical business behavior

Scope of researchIn a sample of 316 Chinese MBA students, the influence of Time Perspective on two types of unethical behaviors was tested. We differentiated between rule-based and social-concern issues. Time Perspective was measured by using a Chinese version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. Participants’ evaluation of the issues as ethical—or unethical—and their behavioral intention to violate business ethics were measured.HypothesesWe assumed that Past-Positive and Future will enhance ethical orientation, whereas Past-Negative, Present-Fatalistic and deviance from balanced time perspective (DBTP) will reduce ethical orientation (evaluation of unethical practices as ethical and high behavioral intention to apply unethical practices).ResultsFor evaluation of rule-based issues, Past-Positive, Present-Hedonistic and Future significantly influenced in the predicted direction, whereas no significant effects of time perspectives for social concern issues were observed. According to behavioral intention, only Present-Fatalistic reached significance for both types of ethical issues in the predicted direction. Further, it was shown in a mediation-model that the influence of DBTP on behavioral intention to show unethical practices is mediated by the evaluation as ethical/unethical in the case of rule-based issues (in the case of social concern, the factors reached no significance or only nearby significances, respectively). Chinese managers with a high deviation from a balanced time perspective showed reduced evaluation of unethical practices as unethical, and an enhanced behavioral intention to show unethical practices. Other potential variables of influence, such as age, gender, the size of company, and the degree of globalization were considered, and their influences were controlled.Conclusions and limitationsTime perspectives are of relevance for business ethics, but the relationship was only shown for rule-based issues. In the case of social concern, the relationship was only shown for Present-Fatalistic on behavioral intention.

Narcissism and counterproductive workplace behaviors among Iranian managers and nonmanagerial employees

Unlike many other studies which assumed narcissism to be equivalent to overt narcissism, the purpose of this study is to empirically examine how covert and overt narcissism affect counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs), a type of unethical behavior that can be discussed by ethical ideology. Furthermore, this research tests whether the relationship between managerial position and CWBs is direct or mediated by narcissism. The population of this study consisted of managers (N = 196) and nonmanagerial employees (N = 221) in 10 relatively small Iranian firms. Questionnaires were used to collect the required data. The results indicated that most of the Iranian managers show both types of narcissistic behaviors specifically overt type, covert narcissism is a stronger predictor of interpersonal and organizational CWBs than overt narcissism, and managerial position does not seem to have a direct effect on CWBs, but has an indirect effect mediated through covert narcissism.

An Exploratory Research on Types of Unethical Behaviors at Social Welfare Organizations

본 연구의 목적은 그동안 연구되지 않았던 사회복지기관의 비윤리행위를 유형화함으로써 사회복지기관의 윤리경영을 활성화하고자 함이다. 윤리경영은 영리기관뿐 아니라 비영리 기관에서도 중요한 원칙이다. 특히 비영리기관인 사회복지시설에서의 윤리경영은 매우 근본적인 원칙이기도 하다. 그러나 끊임없이 사회복지기관 및 클라이언트에게 해를 끼치는 비윤리적인 행위들이 있어왔다. 이 탐색적 연구는 1980년대 이후의 사회복지기관 내에서 일어났던 비윤리 행위들을 유형화시켜 그 대안을 논하고 있다. 따라서 1980년도부터 2014년 6월까지 신문에 보도되었던 사회복지기관의 비윤리행위를 첫째, 행위의 발생유형과 과정, 둘째, 행위의 내용에 따른 유형분류, 셋째, 행위의 주체와 객체로 분석을 하였다. 또한 단선적인 윤리의 틀에서 벗어나 통합적인 윤리로의 발전을 위해 본 연구는 사회윤리, 기업윤리, 사회복지윤리라는 세 가지의 윤리영역을 고찰하고 비윤리행위를 분류하는 연구 틀로 삼았다. 문헌고찰 외에 3차례에 걸친 총 16명과의 심층면접을 통하여 현장에서 목격했던 비윤리행위의 사례를 분류하였고 이 유형을 기반으로 통합윤리관점의 필요성과 사회복지윤리경영의 중요성을 논의하였다.

The hungry thief: Physiological deprivation and its effects on unethical behavior

We conducted five studies to examine the effects of physiological deprivation on unethical behavior. Consistent with predictions from Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, we found that physiologically deprived participants engaged in unethical behavior related to obtaining physiological satiation. Contrary to models in which deprivation increases global unethical behavior, hungry and thirsty participants also engaged in less physiologically-unrelated unethical behavior compared to control participants (Studies 1–3). Studies 4 and 5 confirmed that the effects of physiological deprivation on both types of unethical behavior were mediated by a heightened engagement of the Behavioral Approach System (BAS). In addition, we found that the salience of an organizational ethical context acted as a boundary condition for the mediated effect. Participants reminded of the organizational ethical context were less likely to engage in need-related unethical behavior even when physiologically deprived. We conclude by considering the theoretical and practical implications of this research.

The Influence of Organization Identification on Different Types of Unethical Behavioral Contagion

Unethical behavior is harmful for organizations’ existence and success. Studying factors that determine whether or not employees copy each other’s misdeeds importantly contributes to insights in how the spreading of unethical behavior through an organization can be stopped. We argue that the presence of an unethical exemplar increases the instigation to engage in similar conduct, but that this effect is moderated by organization identification and the type of unethical behavior at stake. Unethical behavior can either be harmful to an organization (e.g. taking home office supplies) or seem beneficial to an organization (e.g. offering bribes). We hypothesized that individuals who have a low organizational identification copy an unethical exemplar more when the behavior harms the organization and that individuals who highly identify with the organization copy an unethical exemplar more when the unethical behavior seemingly benefits the organization. Two field studies and one lab study confirm our expectations. We conclude that unethical behavior spreads among people and that either high or low organization identification strengthens this effect, depending on the type of unethical behavior.

The Ethics Of Business School Faculty: A Survey

A mail questionnaire completed by business school faculty and administrators across the United States revealed that both job applicants and business faculty are engaging in unethical behavior. The paper reports this finding by type of unethical behavior, by college of business accreditation status and by degree-levels granted at the institution.

How to Measure Integrity Violations

To develop governance that is both effective and ethical, scholars study the causes and effects of unethical behavior as well as the policies and systems that thwart such behavior. However, there is much inconsistency and incoherence in the demarcation of different types of unethical behaviors. To enable conceptual clarity and improved measurement we present here a validated typology of unethical behaviors – that is, integrity violations. Differentiating between such types of violations not only reveals insightful variation in the frequency and acceptability of these violations but also shows how leadership styles and organizational culture have varying effects on these different unethical behaviors.

Tattling on the Teacher: A Study of Factors Influencing Peer Reporting of Teachers who Violate Standardized Testing Protocol

Allegations of teacher and administrator cheating on standardized tests appear to be rampant. One primary way that cheating is held in check occurs when peers turn in other teachers for cheating. The purpose of this study was to exam five variables as predictors of peer reporting of this particular type of unethical behavior. Three hundred thirty (N = 330) Texas school teachers responded to a survey that included a scenario depicting another teacher violating standardized testing protocol. Results indicated no differences in reporting intentions across impression management tactics (justification vs. intimidation). However, canonical correlation results indicated that a combination of predictor variables was positively and significantly related to peer-reporting intentions. A perception of participatory culture was the primary contributor to the composite. Communication confidence and policy attitude were moderate contributors.

Follower Propensity to Commit Crimes of Obedience

Organizations and society are concerned about unethical behavior. One type of unethical behavior is crimes of obedience, where followers are influenced by a leader to engage in behavior they would otherwise consider unethical. In this article, the author proposes that people who see themselves as leadership material and hold leaders in high esteem are more likely to view leaders as having more responsibility for ethical decisions and behaviors than followers. Consequently, such persons when placed in a follower position may be more susceptible to commit crimes of obedience through the process of moral disengagement by displacing responsibility for their behavior onto the leader.

Ethics sensitivity and awareness within organizations in kuwait: An empirical exploration of epoused theory and theory-in-use

This article explores the ethics sensitivity and awareness of a sample of employees in six organizations in Kuwait. We identify which sorts of questionable organizational behaviors are believed to be most unethical by these employees, as well as which behaviors are reported to occur most often within the organizations. On the whole, the employees evidence a high level of ethical sensitivity, perceiving the moral hazards of all of the behaviors presented to them. At the same time, the reported occurrence of these behaviors within the sampled organizations is relatively high. We produce conclusions about the correspondence between moral theory and moral practice within the Kuwaiti workplace. We find a basic correspondence between what is believed to be wrong within these organizations, and the types of unethical behavior reported within them. In general, behaviors thought to be most unethical occur less frequently within the organizations.