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Can moral dilemmas be mitigated? Exploring the impact of AI supervisors on workplace cheating behavior

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  • Li, Jiaoyang
  • Qin, Qi
  • Cheng, Bao

Abstract

While AI supervision holds the potential to enhance organizational productivity and performance, it has also sparked numerous moral debates. The consequences and risks it may entail in moral dimensions are yet to be fully understood. Incorporating social cognitive theory and mind perception theory, we explore the impact of AI supervisors as an environmental factor on employee cognition and behavior from a moral perspective. Specifically, through three scenario-based experiments and two field studies (N = 821), we investigate how AI (vs. human) supervisors affect employees’ workplace cheating behavior and the underlying mechanisms. We find that employees show more workplace cheating behaviors when under the supervision of AI compared to human supervisors, and employees’ perception of supervisor moral decoupling acts as a mediator in this relationship. Furthermore, the incidence of such cheating behaviors could be mitigated when the AI supervisor is endowed with human-like characteristics such as anthropomorphic appearance and language styles.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Jiaoyang & Qin, Qi & Cheng, Bao, 2026. "Can moral dilemmas be mitigated? Exploring the impact of AI supervisors on workplace cheating behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:210:y:2026:i:c:s0148296326001943
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2026.116159
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