Does social perfectionism foster electronic cheating behavior among budding hospitality managers? A moderated mediation analysis

Shagirbasha, Shameem; Iqbal, Juman; Madhan, Kumar

doi:10.1016/j.jhtm.2023.06.023

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…LOOP also promotes employee’s socially prescribed perfectionism ( Smith et al, 2017 , 2019 ). Socially prescribed perfectionism engages in unethical behavior for self-protection ( Shagirbasha et al, 2023 ). Researchers have argued that leaders setting higher demands effectively improve performance ( Guo et al, 2021 ) but have ignored the possibility that employees may use unethical practices to meet the leader’s standards.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why does a leader’s other-oriented perfectionism lead employees to do bad things? Examining the role of moral disengagement and moral identity

Jiang,

Zhang,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionMoral disengagement is an essential concept in organizational behavioral ethics, as it is strongly related to employee behaviors and attitudes. What is not clear, however, is which leader traits are directly associated with employees’ moral disengagement and which are indirectly associated with unethical behavior. This study draws on a social cognitive perspective that links leaders’ other-oriented perfectionism (LOOP) with unethical employee behavior. Specifically, we propose that LOOP provides employees with excuses and encouragement to engage in unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB).MethodsWe analyzed data collected from 266 full-time employees at two-time points, and used mediated and moderated structural equation models to test the hypotheses, and the findings largely support our claims.ResultsThe results suggest that LOOP effectively promotes employees’ involvement in UPB. Moderated mediation tests suggest that the positive indirect impact of LOOP on employees’ unethical behavior via moral disengagement was attenuated by higher employees’ moral identity.DiscussionIn summary, the results indicate that when leaders emphasize only perfection and make unrealistic demands on their employees, the latter perceive that engaging in unethical behavior is demanded by the leader, that the responsibility is not theirs, and thus they are more willing to engage in unethical behavior. This study discusses the implications of these findings from both practical and theoretical perspectives.

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