Paved with Good Intentions: Self-regulation Breakdown After Altruistic Ethical Transgression

Hongyu Zhang, Xin Lucy Liu, Yahua Cai, Xiuli Sun

Journal of Business Ethics · 2023 · Volume 186 · Issue 2

Abstract

Unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) is unethical behavior driven by an intention to assist an organization. This study is one of the first attempts to examine the consequences of UPB. We argue that such types of behaviors can induce failure in self-regulation and thereby give rise to counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Based on self-regulation theory, we theorize that the breakdown in three fundamental mechanisms (i.e., moral standards, monitoring, and discipline) explains the link between UPB and CWB. Moreover, moral identity internalization can temper these breakdown processes such that employees with higher levels of moral identity internalization are less likely to experience moral disengagement, workplace entitlement, or self-control depleting after enacting UPB, and therefore, will engage in less CWB. We conducted a 7-day experience sampling study of 95 financial service employees in a Chinese bank to test our theoretical model. The results indicated that transgressions committed with the intention of helping the organization would ultimately harm the organization, especially for those with lower moral identity internalization. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords

Unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), Self-regulation theory, Moral identity internalization, Counterproductive work behavior (CWB), Moral disengagement, Psychological entitlement, Self-control depletion

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