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Hypocrisy by association: When organizational membership increases condemnation for wrongdoing

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  • Effron, Daniel A.
  • Lucas, Brian J.
  • O’Connor, Kieran

Abstract

Hypocrisy occurs when people fail to practice what they preach. Four experiments document the hypocrisy-by-association effect, whereby failing to practice what an organization preaches can make an employee seem hypocritical and invite moral condemnation. Participants judged employees more harshly for the same transgression when it was inconsistent with ethical values the employees’ organization promoted, and ascriptions of hypocrisy mediated this effect (Studies 1–3). The results did not support the possibility that inconsistent transgressions simply seemed more harmful. In Study 4, participants were less likely to select a job candidate whose transgression did (vs. did not) contradict a value promoted by an organization where he had once interned. The results suggest that employees are seen as morally obligated to uphold the values that their organization promotes, even by people outside of the organization. We discuss how observers will judge someone against different ethical standards depending on where she or he works.

Suggested Citation

  • Effron, Daniel A. & Lucas, Brian J. & O’Connor, Kieran, 2015. "Hypocrisy by association: When organizational membership increases condemnation for wrongdoing," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 147-159.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:130:y:2015:i:c:p:147-159
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2015.05.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Aray, Yulia & Dikova, Desislava & Garanina, Tatiana & Veselova, Anna, 2021. "The hunt for international legitimacy: Examining the relationship between internationalization, state ownership, location and CSR reporting of Russian firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5).
    3. Yan, Liuxin & Emil Chai, Valentino & Chi Yam, Kai, 2024. "Demeaning extrinsic motivation leads to increased perceptions of hypocrisy," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    4. Effron, Daniel A. & Miller, Dale T., 2015. "Do as I say, not as I’ve done: Suffering for a misdeed reduces the hypocrisy of advising others against it," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 16-32.
    5. Lauren Lanahan & Daniel Armanios, 2018. "Does More Certification Always Benefit a Venture?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(5), pages 931-947, October.
    6. Wagner, Tillmann & Korschun, Daniel & Troebs, Cord-Christian, 2020. "Deconstructing corporate hypocrisy: A delineation of its behavioral, moral, and attributional facets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 385-394.
    7. Hafenbrädl, Sebastian & Waeger, Daniel, 2021. "The business case for CSR: A trump card against hypocrisy?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 838-848.
    8. Fehr, Ryan & Gupta, Abhinav & Guarana, Cristiano, 2021. "Rewarding morality: How corporate social responsibility shapes top management team compensation votes," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 170-188.

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