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The Crucial Role of Turnover Intentions in Transforming Moral Disengagement Into Deviant Behavior at Work

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  • Jessica Christian
  • Aleksander Ellis

Abstract

Organizational deviance represents a costly behavior to many organizations. While some precursors to deviance have been identified, we hope to add to our predictive capabilities. Utilizing social cognitive theory and psychological contract theory as explanatory concepts, we explore the role of moral disengagement and turnover intentions, testing our hypotheses using two samples: a sample of 44 nurses from a hospital system in the Southwestern United States (Study 1), and a sample of 52 working adults collected from an online survey system (Study 2). Results strongly supported our hypotheses in both samples, indicating that the self-regulatory deactivation inherent in moral disengagement led to increased organizational deviance; effects that were much more pronounced when turnover intentions were high. Our findings support the increased role of cognition in determining behavior when environmental pressures stemming from the psychological contract have been altered, leading to a number of theoretical and practical implications, particularly in industries with high turnover rates. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica Christian & Aleksander Ellis, 2014. "The Crucial Role of Turnover Intentions in Transforming Moral Disengagement Into Deviant Behavior at Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 193-208, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:119:y:2014:i:2:p:193-208
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1631-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Adam Barsky, 2011. "Investigating the Effects of Moral Disengagement and Participation on Unethical Work Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(1), pages 59-75, November.
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    1. Ulf Schaefer & Onno Bouwmeester, 2021. "Reconceptualizing Moral Disengagement as a Process: Transcending Overly Liberal and Overly Conservative Practice in the Field," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 525-543, September.
    2. Christian W. Scheiner & Christian V. Baccarella & John Bessant & Kai-Ingo Voigt, 2018. "Participation Motives, Moral Disengagement, And Unethical Behaviour In Idea Competitions," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(06), pages 1-24, August.
    3. Peter E. Mudrack & E. Sharon Mason, 2019. "Utilitarian Traits and the Janus-Headed Model: Origins, Meaning, and Interpretation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 227-240, April.
    4. Amlan Haque & Mario Fernando & Peter Caputi, 2019. "The Relationship Between Responsible Leadership and Organisational Commitment and the Mediating Effect of Employee Turnover Intentions: An Empirical Study with Australian Employees," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(3), pages 759-774, May.
    5. Gabi Eissa & Scott W. Lester, 2022. "A Moral Disengagement Investigation of How and When Supervisor Psychological Entitlement Instigates Abusive Supervision," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 675-694, October.
    6. Alexander Newman & Huong Le & Andrea North-Samardzic & Michael Cohen, 2020. "Moral Disengagement at Work: A Review and Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 535-570, December.
    7. Matthew Valle & K. Michele Kacmar & Suzanne Zivnuska, 2019. "Understanding the Effects of Political Environments on Unethical Behavior in Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 173-188, April.
    8. Agnihotri, Arpita & Bhattacharya, Saurabh & Gupta, Suraksha, 2023. "Do morally disengaged employees withdraw from customer-oriented citizenship behavior in response to customers’ uncivil behavior?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    9. Ahmet Cengiz Ucar & Lutfihak Alpkan & Meral Elci, 2021. "The Effects of Person–Organization Fit and Turnover Intention on Employees’ Creative Behavior: The Mediating Role of Psychological Ownership," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, December.
    10. Tomasz Gigol, 2020. "Gender Differences in Engagement in Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior—Two Studies in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    11. Harris, Lloyd C. & He, Hongwei, 2019. "Retail employee pilferage: A study of moral disengagement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 57-68.
    12. Yi Lin Chow, Dawn & Wen Chan, Xi & Micelotta, Evelyn, 2021. "Cross-border M&As: Theorizing the negative effect of political ideology mismatch with host country labor institutional context on employee outcomes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 164-173.
    13. Laura Graf & Wiebke S. Wendler & Jutta Stumpf-Wollersheim & Isabell M. Welpe, 2019. "Wanting More, Getting Less: Gaming Performance Measurement as a Form of Deviant Workplace Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 753-773, July.
    14. Kevin Tasa & Chris M. Bell, 2017. "Effects of Implicit Negotiation Beliefs and Moral Disengagement on Negotiator Attitudes and Deceptive Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 169-183, April.
    15. Dirk De Clercq & Inam Ul Haq & Muhammad Umer Azeem, 2020. "When does job dissatisfaction lead to deviant behaviour? The critical roles of abusive supervision and adaptive humour," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 45(2), pages 294-316, May.

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