Journal article
Egoistic norms, organizational identification, and the perceived ethicality of unethical pro-organizational behavior: A moral maturation perspective
Human relations (New York), v 73(9), pp 1249-1277
01 Sep 2020
Abstract
Do some employees engage in unethical behavior because they actually believe it is the right thing to do? We explore this question in this article. Unlike other forms of unethical behavior, unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) is aimed at benefiting the perpetrator's organization. We propose that employees are increasingly likely to engage in UPB when they believe these acts are ethically appropriate, and that these ethicality beliefs are strongest among employees who work in departments with egoistic norms. Such norms lack guidance on the importance of protecting outside stakeholders' interest, and provide limited moral knowledge about the broader implications of UPB. We further propose that organizational identification strengthens these effects. Across three field studies, we find support for the hypothesized effects. Ethical judgments of UPB were positively related to both self (Studies 1 and 3) and supervisor (Study 2) ratings of employee UPB. In turn, acts of UPB were judged more ethically appropriate in departments with egoistic norms, and these positive ethical judgments mediated the relationships between egoistic norms and employee UPB (Study 2). Finally, the indirect effects of egoistic norms were strongest among employees with high levels of organizational identification (Study 3). Implications for theory and research are discussed.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Egoistic norms, organizational identification, and the perceived ethicality of unethical pro-organizational behavior: A moral maturation perspective
- Creators
- Katrina A. Graham - Suffolk UniversityChristian J. Resick - Drexel UniversityJaclyn A. Margolis - Pepperdine UniversityPing Shao - California State University, SacramentoMichael B. Hargis - University of Central ArkansasJason D. Kiker - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Human relations (New York), v 73(9), pp 1249-1277
- Publisher
- Sage
- Number of pages
- 29
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Bennett S. LeBow College of Business; Management
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000553844200006
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85074039577
- Other Identifier
- 991019168412304721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Management
- Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary