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

Abstract

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.

An Integrative Approach to Understanding Counterproductive Work Behavior: The Roles of Stressors, Negative Emotions, and Moral Disengagement

“…Overall, this study extends the findings that emerged in the literature, which frequently underline the relevance of MD in the unethical decision-making process (Barsky, 2011;Detert et al, 2008;Moore, 2008Moore, , 2012. The inclusion of MD in the stressor-emotion model represents an attempt to integrate two important traditions of research on aggressive behavior:…”

“…Specifically, in explaining deviant conduct in organizations, several studies have attested to the role of MD in the performance of various behaviors that violate social and organizational norms, for example, corporate transgression and organizational corruption (Bandura et al, 2000;Barsky, 2011;Barsky, Islam, Zyphur, & Johnson, 2006;Moore, 2008), violations of legal and moral rules in producing harmful practices and products (Brief, Buttram, & Dukerich, 2001), violation of safety rules (Barbaranelli & Perna, 2004), and "crimes of obedience" 1 (Beu & Buckley, 2004;Hinrichs, 2007 Furthermore, some contributions underlined that specific conditions may facilitate the activation of these mechanisms. For example, higher levels of MD have been associated with the experience of negative emotions such as anxiety or irritability (Caprara et al, 2012) and the perception of organizational climate as less favorable, leading to lower levels of job satisfaction (Claybourn, 2011).…”

Mitos no Desengajamento Moral: Retóricas da Samarco em um Crime Corporativo

“…Para evitar a discrepância entre o que acreditam ser certo e o modo como realmente agem, os indivíduos procuram ser consistentes em suas crenças morais, visto que os conflitos causados pela inconsistência entre o comportamento e os valores morais produzem desconforto psicológico (Gioia, 1992(Gioia, , 1995Egan, Hughes, & Palmer, 2015). O desengajamento moral é a violação dos princípios morais pessoais para justificar uma decisão ou comportamento (Bandura, 1991), estando relacionado às decisões e aos comportamentos antiéticos no local de trabalho, sendo ainda um fator potencializador do comportamento ilegal ou criminal (Barsky, 2011;Christian & Ellis, 2014;Detert, Treviño, & Sweitzr, 2008).…”

“…4, pp. 70-91, janeiro/fevereiro, 2018 www.anpad.org.br/rac comportamentos negativos (Bandura, 1991;Barsky, 2011;Christian & Ellis, 2014;Detert et al, 2008). Isso porque as pessoas têm emoções contraditórias (por exemplo, ainda que intencionem adotar a conduta transgressora, sentem culpa pelo que fazem) quando percebem nos outros a reprovação por suas condutas, da mesma forma que têm orgulho quando percebem a aprovação por suas condutas.…”

“…Ainda de acordo com a TSC, as ações morais são produtos da interação recíproca de influências cognitivas, afetivas e sociais (Bandura, 2002;Barsky, 2011;Weaver, 2006), e o pensamento moral é um processo cujas regras e padrões são a base para o julgamento da conduta (Bandura, 1991, Detert et al, 2008. Nessa direção, os mecanismos de desengajamento moral, termo cunhado por Bandura (1999), são capazes de desativar no indivíduo o processo de autorregulação de sua conduta quando esse pretende RAC, Rio de Janeiro, v. 22, n. 1, art.…”