Unethical Work Behavior Research Articles

Feeling stuck and feeling bad: Career plateaus, negative emotions, and counterproductive work behaviors

AbstractCareer plateauing has been described as a subjective state that is emotionally unpleasant and associated with unethical work behaviors, yet there is little theoretical explanation or robust evidence to support such claims. This study contributes a theoretical framework for the relationships between career plateauing, emotions, and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB). Building on the stressor‐emotion model of CWB, we propose that employees who perceive themselves as experiencing plateau are likely to commit CWB when they experience negative emotions. We also predict that the strength of this process depends on individuals' emotion regulation ability. Through regression analysis of data from 193 UK‐based employees across three time points, our study finds that both hierarchical and job content plateauing are associated with negative emotions and indirectly related to CWB via negative emotions; neither plateau type is directly related to CWB. Additionally, lower emotion regulation ability strengthens the relationship between job content plateauing and negative emotions, leading to more CWB. This study offers a novel theoretical explanation of how plateauing affects employees' emotions and deviant behaviors. It also provides important practical guidance for managers by showing that plateaued employees are not inherently problematic to the organization. By proactively understanding and managing plateaued individuals' feelings, managers can more likely prevent negative emotions from triggering deviant behaviors.

Do moral disengagers experience guilt following workplace misconduct? Consequences for emotional exhaustion and task performance

SummaryAccording to Bandura, moral disengagement facilitates misconduct by minimizing feelings of guilt that normally arise when one contemplates wrongdoing. While trait moral disengagement has been negatively associated with anticipatory guilt, scholars have yet to fully consider its impact on guilt post‐misconduct. In this paper, we examine the indirect effects of trait moral disengagement on post‐misconduct guilt, and downstream effects on employees' mental health and performance. Lastly, we explore the moderating role of post‐misconductstatemoral disengagement in shaping the effects of trait moral disengagement. Across three studies, we find that trait moral disengagement ispositivelylinked to guilt following interpersonal deviance, unethical work behavior, and objective cheating behavior. Further, trait moral disengagement is indirectly, positively linked to emotional exhaustion and negatively related to executive function (specifically, the capacity to inhibit distraction during tasks). In a fourth study, we find that trait moral disengagement is positively associated with guilt and subsequent emotional exhaustion when individuals employ little to no state moral disengagement immediately post‐misconduct. In contrast, trait moral disengagement is negatively linked to guilt and emotional exhaustion when individuals employ state moral disengagement post‐misconduct. We discuss the implications of these findings for advancing moral disengagement theory and research.

Effects of negative workplace gossip on unethical work behavior in the hospitality industry: the roles of moral disengagement and self-construal

ABSTRACT Following social cognitive theory, this study examines the effects of negative workplace gossip (NWG) on employees’ unethical work behavior in the hospitality industry by introducing the mediating role of moral disengagement and moderating role of self-construal. Data were collected with a multi-wave survey approach from five hotels and five restaurants in Shantou, China. The results demonstrate that NWG exerts a significant influence on moral disengagement; this leads to employees’ unethical work behavior. Employees’ self-construal is a vital boundary condition moderating the detrimental impact of NWG on moral disengagement, as well as the indirect impacts of NWG on unethical work behavior via moral disengagement. The study findings contribute to NWG literature by extending the effects of NWG to unethical work behavior in the hospitality industry and unveiling the internal mechanism linking them. Furthermore, these findings provide a significant boundary condition to grasp when NWG causes moral disengagement and unethical work behavior.

Organizational climate and counterproductive work behaviors - the moderating role of gender.

The aim of the research was to check whether the organizational climate explains behaviors harmful to the organization. Theoretical justification for the research was provided by the Stressor-Emotion Model by Spector and Fox (2005), in which various stressors lead to the depletion of resources, which in effect favors engaging in unethical work behaviors. The research was conducted with the participation of 230 people aged 19-67 (125 women and 105 men) with at least 1 year of seniority. The following set of techniques was used: the Organizational Climate Questionnaire by Kolb, the Counterproductive Work Behaviors-Checklist by Spector et al., and metrics. The obtained results indicate that the higher the employees assess the climate in the company, the rarer counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) appear in the form of abuse, sabotage, theft and withdrawal, both in the group of women and men. All the dimensions of the organizational climate, such as the level of responsibility, requirements, organization, evaluation of awards, management, and the sense of warmth and support, are important for this relationship. The moderating role of gender in the relationship between organizational climate and CWBs was achieved for sabotage and withdrawal, and the following environmental conditions: organizational climate, responsibility, requirements, and organization. These results may be applied in designing a supportive organizational climate to weaken CWBs such as abuse, sabotage, theft and withdrawal. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2021;34(4):513-25.

The work behaviors of patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) during the autumn pollen season.

This study aims to analyze the work behaviors of patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) during the autumn pollen season, using a 2-week diary survey. In this study, we recruited patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) who were allergic to autumn pollen using an experience sampling method. All participants completed a 2-week survey using the WeChat app during the autumn pollen season (September 16, 2018 through to September 30, 2018). Collected data included participants' general characteristics, nasal symptoms, symptoms of insomnia, mood, and unethical work behaviors. The results showed that pollen concentration had a significant positive effect on the symptoms of rhinitis (P<0.001). Nasal symptoms had direct, positive effects on night-time insomnia (P<0.01) and a negative mood the next day (P<0.05). Insomnia positively affected a negative mood the next day (P<0.01), while negative mood exhibited a direct, positive effect on unethical work behaviors (P<0.05). Furthermore, pollen concentration, nasal symptoms, and insomnia were indirectly but positively associated with unethical work behaviors in patients with SAR. Nasal symptoms in patients with SAR were aggravated by pollen dispersion that induced a higher incidence of insomnia, which subsequently provoked a negative mood the next day. Therefore, the spillover effects of seasonal pollen included an increased incidence of unethical work behaviors.

Good Barrels Yield Healthy Apples: Organizational Ethics as a Mechanism for Mitigating Work-Related Stress and Promoting Employee Well-Being

Little is known about how ethical organizational contexts influence employees’ perceived stress levels and well-being. This study used two theoretical lenses, ethical impact theory (Promislo et al. in Handbook of Unethical Work Behavior, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, 2013) and ethical decision-making theory (Schwartz in J Bus Ethics 139(4): 755–776, 2016), to investigate the relationships among perceived organizational ethics (comprised of ethical climate, leader/manager ethics, and corporate social responsibility), work-related stress, and employee well-being (comprised of vitality, life satisfaction, personal growth initiative, flourishing, positive mental health, and self-actualization). Findings across two studies indicated that organizational ethics was negatively related to work-related stress, and that work-related stress was negatively related to employee well-being. Perceived organizational ethics is positively related to employee well-being, with post hoc mediation tests indicating that work-related stress partially mediates this relationship. Our findings suggest that organizations should be proactive in improving their ethical climate, such as choosing ethical leaders, developing a robust and well-communicated code of ethics, and actively practicing CSR. These measures should reduce excessive work-related stress and improve employee well-being.

The Dark Side of Leadership as a Predictor of Employees Unethical Behavior in the Context of Thailand

There are numerous factors that create unethical work behavior. These unethical work behaviors badly affect the organizations. Organization should make effort to recognize and mitigate the effect of factors that foster the sense of unethical work behavior among employees. For this reason, the purpose of the study is to measure the effect of moral justification and supervisor ostracism on unethical work behavior including the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion and facades of conformity. The sample size was 180 from the service sector of Thailand. For data collection random sampling technique was used. The questionnaire was measured on five-point Likert scale. The findings of the study showed that emotional exhaustion have significant effect on unethical work behavior. The effect of facades of conformity on unethical work behavior is significant. The effect of MJ on unethical work behavior is significant. The effect of supervisor ostracism on emotional exhaustion is significant. The effect of supervisor ostracism on facades of conformity is significant. The full mediating effect of emotional exhaustion between supervisor ostracism and unethical work behavior is significant. The full mediating effect of FOF between SO and unethical work behavior is significant. The current study suggested that in future a moderator such as taskrelated relations need to be examined in order to get the more significant results in the literature of leadership and employee’s behaviors.

Judging severity of unethical workplace behavior: Attractiveness and gender as status characteristics

This research focuses on the role of gender and physical attractiveness in judging severity of unethical workplace behavior. Scenarios with possible ethical dilemmas (commonly referred to as “gray areas” of behavior) were displayed to 4,483 subjects. Our findings show that “gray area” behavior was evaluated as more ethical if performed by male employees compared with women. We also found that attractiveness moderated the connection between gender and tolerance toward unethical work behavior. People judge more severely the same unethical action by plain-looking employees rather than attractive-looking employees, in accordance with the attractiveness-leniency effect—but only for women perpetrators. The physical attributes of men were not found to be relevant. We explore a number of explanations for this discrimination based on Expectation States Theory and Social Role Theory. JEL CLASSIFICATION: C91; J71.

Guanxi and Unethical Behavior in the Chinese Workplace: Job Satisfaction As a Mediator

We explored the effects of guanxi prevalence and guanxi practices on 3 types of unethical work behavior (UWB), proposing that job satisfaction would mediate the relationship between guanxi in the workplace and employees' UWB. Data were collected from 379 employees working for companies in China. Results of hierarchical regression analysis revealed that guanxi prevalence had a positive relationship with property-related UWB and conventional and minor (ordinary) UWB, such as doing personal business in company time. Guanxi practices had a significant positive relationship with violation of laws and regulations, property-related UWB, and ordinary UWB. Both guanxi prevalence and guanxi practices had a significantly negative relationship with job satisfaction, and job satisfaction had a significant negative correlation with violation of laws and regulations, property-related UWB, and ordinary UWB. Job satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between guanxi prevalence and ordinary UWB. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

The malevolent side of organizational identification: unraveling the impact of psychological entitlement and manipulative personality on unethical work behaviors

This study expands the behavioral ethics literature by unraveling how and when the malevolent side of organizational identification promotes unethical work behaviors (i.e., pro-organizational and self-interested). Specifically, we examine whether employees’ engagement in unethical pro-organizational behaviors may be caused by overidentifying with their organization, which yields a sense of psychological entitlement that fosters careerist orientation and counterproductive work behaviors. We also hypothesize that psychological entitlement has an indirect effect contingent on employees’ manipulative personality. We used a multi-wave, two-source research design and collected data from 306 employees and their peers in Pakistan’s service sector. The data support the mediated effect between organizational identification and unethical pro-organizational behaviors through enhanced feelings of psychological entitlement. We also found that the impact of organizational identification on psychological entitlement was more pronounced among employees with higher manipulative personality scores.

Birds of a Feather can Butt Heads: When Machiavellian Employees Work with Machiavellian Leaders

Machiavellians are manipulative and deceitful individuals willing to utilize any strategy or behavior needed to attain their goals. This study explores what occurs when Machiavellian employees have a Machiavellian leader with the same negative, manipulative disposition. We argue that Machiavellian employees have a negative worldview and are likely to trust their leaders less. This reduced trust likely results in these employees experiencing higher stress and engaging in more unethical behavior. In addition, we expect these negative relationships to be exacerbated when such followers experience Machiavellian leadership. Thus, we test a moderated mediation model assessing whether Machiavellianism affects employees and whether combining Machiavellian leaders and Machiavellian employees is toxic in the sense of exacerbating the negative impact of Machiavellianism on employee trust. Results do not support the proposed conditional indirect effect of trust for either stress or unethical behavior. Instead, we find a conditional direct effect of employee Machiavellianism on both trust and stress: When Machiavellian employees have Machiavellian leaders, their trust in their leader significantly decreases, and their level of stress significantly increases. We also find support for an unconditional indirect effect of trust for employee stress (but not for unethical work behaviors), Machiavellianism in employees relates to stress via lowered trust in the leader. For unethical behavior, we only find a main effect of employee Machiavellianism.

The negative impact of chameleon-inducing personalities on employees' ethical work intentions: The mediating role of Machiavellianism

Self-interested moves, such as manipulation and deception in interpersonal relationships with parties inside and outside the workplace, constitute a serious concern for management. Machiavellianism is often directly blamed for such ethical failures, but more generic individual differences, such as those linked to the use of chameleon-like approaches to match an immediate cultural or social environment (i.e., external locus of control, relativistic beliefs), may have indirect influences. Because these chameleon-inducing personalities may foster self-interested decisions, by prompting the abandonment of strict moral codes, this study investigates Machiavellianism as a potential mechanism by which these personalities relate negatively to ethical work intentions. The results, obtained with a sample of 436 banking employees from Spain, reveal that external locus of control and relativistic beliefs relate positively to Machiavellianism, and that Machiavellianism mediates the negative influence of chameleon-inducing personalities on ethical work intentions. The study thus provides novel information for managers interested in reducing employees’ Machiavellian tendencies and offers appropriate strategies for deterring their unethical work behaviors.

Moral Character: What it is and What it Does

Moral character can be conceptualized as an individual’s disposition to think, feel, and behave in an ethical versus unethical manner, or as the subset of individual differences relevant to morality. This essay provides an organizing framework for understanding moral character and its relationship to ethical and unethical work behaviors. We present a tripartite model for understanding moral character, with the idea that there are motivational, ability, and identity elements. The motivational element is consideration of others — referring to a disposition toward considering the needs and interests of others, and how one’s own actions affect other people. The ability element is self-regulation — referring to a disposition toward regulating one’s behavior effectively, specifically with reference to behaviors that have positive short-term consequences but negative long-term consequences for oneself or others. The identity element is moral identity — referring to a disposition toward valuing morality and wanting to view oneself as a moral person. After unpacking what moral character is, we turn our attention to what moral character does, with a focus on how it influences unethical behavior, situation selection, and situation creation. Our research indicates that the impact of moral character on work outcomes is significant and consequential, with important implications for research and practice in organizational behavior.

(Un)Ethical Behavior and Performance Appraisal: The Role of Affect, Support, and Organizational Justice

Performance appraisals are widely used as an HR instrument. This study among 332 police officers examines the effects of performance appraisals from a behavioral ethics perspective. A mediation model relating justice perceptions of police officers’ last performance appraisal to their work affect, perceived supervisor and organizational support and, in turn, their ethical (pro-organizational proactive) and unethical (counterproductive) work behavior was tested empirically. The relationship between justice perceptions and both, ethical and unethical behavior was mediated by perceived support and work affect. Hence, a singular yearly performance appraisal was linked to both ethical and unethical behaviors at work. The finding that ethical and unethical aspects of employee behavior share several of the same organizational antecedents, namely organizational justice perceptions, has strong practical implications which are discussed as well.

Methodological Issues in the Design of Online Surveys for Measuring Unethical Work Behavior: Recommendations on the Basis of a Split-Ballot Experiment

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in unethical work behavior. Several types of survey instruments to collect information about unethical work behavior are available. Nevertheless, to date little attention has been paid to design issues of those surveys. There are, however, several important problems that may influence reliability and validity of questionnaire data on the topic, such as social desirability bias. This paper addresses two important issues in the design of online surveys on unethical work behavior: the response scale for questions regarding the frequency of certain types of unethical work behavior and the location of the background questions in an online survey. We present the results of an analysis of a double split-ballot experiment in a large sample (n = 3,386) on governmental integrity. We found that, when comparing response scales that have labels for all categories with response scales that only have anchors at the end, the latter provided answers with higher validity. The study did not provide support for the conventional practice of asking background questions at the end.

Handbook of unethical work behavior: implications for individual well-being

Handbook of unethical work behavior: implications for individual well-being

WHY EMPLOYEES DO BAD THINGS: MORAL DISENGAGEMENT AND UNETHICAL ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

We examine the influence of individuals’ propensity to morally disengage on a broad range of unethical organizational behaviors. First, we develop a parsimonious, adult‐oriented, valid, and reliable measure of an individual's propensity to morally disengage, and demonstrate the relationship between it and a number of theoretically relevant constructs in its nomological network. Then, in 4 additional studies spanning laboratory and field settings, we demonstrate the power of the propensity to moral disengage to predict multiple types of unethical organizational behavior. In these studies we demonstrate that the propensity to morally disengage predicts several outcomes (self‐reported unethical behavior, a decision to commit fraud, a self‐serving decision in the workplace, and supervisor‐ and coworker‐reported unethical work behaviors) beyond other established individual difference antecedents of unethical organizational behavior, as well as the most closely related extant measure of the construct. We conclude that scholars and practitioners seeking to understand a broad range of undesirable workplace behaviors can benefit from taking an individual's propensity to morally disengage into account. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Investigating the Effects of Moral Disengagement and Participation on Unethical Work Behavior

With massive corruption uncovered in numerous recent corporate scandals, investigating psychological processes underlying unethical behavior among employees has become a critical area of research for organizational scientists. This article seeks to explain why people engage in deceptive and fraudulent activities by focusing on the use of moral-disengagement tactics or rationalizations to justify egregious actions at work. In addition, participation in goal-setting is argued to attenuate the relationship between moral disengagement and unethical behavior. Across two studies, a lab simulation and field survey, a measure of moral disengagement was developed for use with working adults. The hypothesized main and interactive effects of moral disengagement, participation, and unethical behavior were tested and largely confirmed.

When managers pressure employees to behave badly: Toward a comprehensive response

Over the last 10 to 15 years, a disturbing number of well-publicized cases of unethical worker behavior have made national headlines. These events have been associated with tragic consequences: countless people have lost their jobs and the associated health insurance and retirement benefits on which they depended; investors have lost their nest eggs; and the trust in the corporate world that is so critical to a thriving economy has been sullied. Pundits have offered simple explanations for these events (e.g., greed) and equally simple solutions (e.g., punish the wrong-doers). In this article, I draw attention to a trigger of unethical work behavior that has received less attention than is warranted: pressure to behave unethically (PBU) perpetrated by organizational authorities. Many instances in which employees violate ethical standards reflect acquiescence to managerial pressure. Herein, I introduce a comprehensive approach to reduce the frequency with which managers execute acts of PBU. My approach draws on a recent influence framework to target managers’ motivation to perform PBU, and ability to achieve personal and organizational goals without resorting to PBU.

SEX DIFFERENCES IN COMPETITIVE AND COMPLIANT UNETHICAL WORK BEHAVIOR

Male and female librarians were compared in terms of their willingness to engage in competitive unethical work behavior and on their willingness to comply with organizational pressures to behave unethically. Men report a greater willingness to engage in each of these behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of sex differences in personality characteristics.