Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Nov 1, 2020
Drawing on the concept of a gale of creative destruction in a capitalistic economy, we argue that... more Drawing on the concept of a gale of creative destruction in a capitalistic economy, we argue that initiatives to assess the robustness of findings in the organizational literature should aim to simultaneously test competing ideas operating in the same theoretical space. In other words, replication efforts should seek not just to support or question the original findings, but also to replace them with revised, stronger theories with greater explanatory power. Achieving this will typically require adding new measures, conditions, and subject populations to research designs, in order to carry out conceptual tests of multiple theories in addition to directly replicating the original findings. To illustrate the value of the creative destruction approach for theory pruning in organizational scholarship, we describe recent replication initiatives reexamining culture and work morality, working parents' reasoning about day care options, and gender discrimination in hiring decisions. Significance statement: It is becoming increasingly clear that many, if not most, published research findings across scientific fields are not readily replicable when the same method is repeated. Although extremely valuable, failed replications risk leaving a theoretical void-reducing confidence the original theoretical prediction is true, but not replacing it with positive evidence in favor of an alternative theory. We introduce the creative destruction approach to replication, which combines theory pruning methods from the field of management with emerging best practices from the open science movement, with the aim of making replications as generative as possible. In effect, we advocate for a Replication 2.0 movement in which the goal shifts from checking on the reliability of past findings to actively engaging in competitive theory testing and theory building. Scientific transparency statement: The materials, code, and data for this article are posted publicly on the Open Science Framework, with links provided in the article. pressures Meehl (1978), Popper (1963), and others envisioned. Indeed, organizational scholars have long lamented the proliferation of new theories within management research (Hambrick, 2007), with meaningful attempts at theory reduction remaining largely absent from the literature (Aguinis, Pierce, Bosco, & Muslin, 2009; Leavitt, Mitchell, & Peterson, 2010). Platt (1964) used the term strong inference to describe at a high level how faster-moving sciences tend to pit theories against one another to accelerate progress (see also Albertini, 2017). To address this challenge, management scholars have slowly
The present study uses measures of implicit and explicit values to predict moral behaviors. Impli... more The present study uses measures of implicit and explicit values to predict moral behaviors. Implicit value measures based on a word-fragment completion tasks were developed in this study to assess implicit values. Because values and moral processes are believed to operate at both explicit and implicit levels, it was hypothesized that both implicit and explicit values would predict moral behaviors. Results from a laboratory study show that both implicit and explicit values predicted actual moral behavior, consistent with dual process theories of morality. Chronic collective identity moderated the relation of both implicit and explicit values to ethical behavior. Theoretical and practical implications for the use of both explicit and implicit value measures in research and applied settings are discussed. RUNNING HEAD: Values and Ethical Behavior 3 3 Explicit and Implicit Values as a Predictor of Ethical Behavior Reports of corporate scandals and moral failings of public figures (from famous athletes and coaches to respected elected officials) have recently attracted much attention from the media. Attention to these issues is important given the enormous social and economic costs that are associated with organizational and employee misconduct. For example, employee theft alone is estimated to cost organizations 10 to 120 billions of dollars in annual revenues (Bourke, 1994). Even greater still, recent reports estimate that US corporations lose nearly 1 trillion dollars due to varied corporate malfeasances (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2008). In reaction to such scandals and other social ills, politicians, religious leaders, and laypersons alike have repeatedly invoked the importance of values for maintaining an ethical society. Tacit in these cries for a value-based society is the assumption that internalizing sets of values will actually produce ethical behavior. Although studies of behavioral ethics have proliferated, with scholars successfully identifying individual, contextual, and institutional factors which predict malfeasance in organizational settings and daily life (see Kish-Gephart, Harrison, & Treviño, 2010, for a recent meta-analysis), studies to date have not yet shown how individuals' values influence their ethical choices. This omission is surprising, given that values represent a relatively mature area of psychological inquiry (e.g., Bardi, Calogero & Mullen, 2008; Bardi & Schwartz, 2003), and are a topic of modern social and political discourse. Further, recent work has implicated reflexive, intuitive processes as critical drivers of moral judgments and behaviors (Haidt, 2001; Reynolds, 2006; Reynolds, Leavitt, & Decelles, 2010), and values have been conceptualized to operate at least partly through automatic processes (Bardi & Schwartz, 2003). We argue that insight into these automatic processes is especially important given that much of ethical research has focused on understanding moral or immoral action as the RUNNING HEAD: Values and Ethical Behavior 4 4 consequence of rational, cost-benefit modes of thinking (Bennis, Medin, & Bartels, 2010; Ginges, Atran, Sachdeva, & Medin, 2011). Therefore, investigating how values influence moral choice and behavior at both conscious and non-conscious levels of awareness seems both important and timely. Although there are multiple ways of referring to automatic phenomena, we will use the term implicit to refer to phenomenon that are non-conscious and proceed without deliberate intention. In contrast, we use the term explicit to refer to phenomenon that are accessible to conscious thought. In keeping with convention within the moral psychology literature, we will also use the terms moral and ethical interchangeably. In this paper, we present our findings of using a newly developed measure of implicit values based upon Schwartz's (1992) values circumplex with analogous explicit values as predictors of moral and immoral action. We show that values are important determinants of moral actions, but the magnitude of values' influence depended on whether it was implicitly or explicitly represented. Values as Predictors of Ethical Decision-Making and Moral Behavior According to Schwartz' value theory (1992), values can be defined as relatively stable, motivational constructs that guide people's perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors towards achieving specific higher order goals. Importantly, his work identified ten broad types of values that are both universally endorsed (Schwartz, 1992; Schwartz & Boehnke, 2004; Schwartz & Sagiv, 1995) and remain relatively stable during adulthood (Feather, 1971; Schwartz, 1992).As shown in Figure 1, these ten values can be organized into four higher-order value factors. Selfenhancement includes values that emphasize personal achievement and self-interest (e.g., power, achievement, hedonism), whereas self-transcendence emphasizes values that promote the welfare of others (e.g., universalism, benevolence, self-direction). Conservation represents RUNNING HEAD: Values and Ethical Behavior 5 5 values that endorse preserving and maintaining the status quo (e.g., tradition, conformity, security). Finally, openness to change reflects values that emphasize "independent thought and actions that favor change" (Schwartz & Sagiv, 1995, p. 94). Focusing on values in the study of moral thought and behavior is important for several reasons. First, although studies have shown that the activities and behaviors of people within a society can be predicted by the underlining values that define that particular society (Bardi, Calogero, & Mullen, 2008), research that examines how personal values influence ethical behavior of individuals has not been thoroughly explored. This oversight is surprising as values and attitudes have been suggested as being strong antecedents of behavior (Hurtz & Williams, 2009). However, most empirical research has explored how personal values influence moral intentions and judgments (e.g., Finegan, 1994; Fritzsche & Oz, 2007; Glover, Bumpus, Logan, & Ciesla, 1997), rather than actual moral behavior. Second, values can account for moral and immoral actions that cannot be readily explained by cost-benefit decision making paradigms. In fact, this latter perspective posits that moral or immoral actions are the result of calculated attempts at realizing personal objectives and other instrumental gains. Although this approach has dominated much of ethical research (Ginges, Atran, Sachdeva, & Medin, 2011), this cold, calculative approach for understanding moral action experiences difficulty when explaining moral phenomenon that appear to be driven by sacred values or latent social principles (Rai & Fiske, 2011). For example, there is qualitative research to suggest that contrary to popular belief, membership into extremist organizations (e.g., Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah) is not driven by the desire to achieve political or economic gain, but by the desire to protect or uphold fundamental social values (Argo, 2009; Ginges, Atran, Sachdeva, & Medin, 2011). In fact, Argo (2009) demonstrated that the decision to join the Palestinian
We examine employee evening marital sexual behavior as an antecedent to next-day job satisfaction... more We examine employee evening marital sexual behavior as an antecedent to next-day job satisfaction and job engagement. Drawing from theory on affective spillover and work to family conflict (WFC), o...
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about ... more [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it. --Denis Diderot THROUGH INTUITION, VARIOUS EXPERIENCES, reactions to the experiences of others, and exposure to standards held by others, people develop a set of moral standards that they apply to their own actions. For Soldiers, the Army plays an important role in the development of these standards. Leaders, trainers, and educators aid Soldiers in inculcating institutional values. Moreover, the Army provides Soldiers explicit codes, such as the Geneva Convention, the Law of Land Warfare (Field Manual 27-10), and the U.S. Soldiers Creed. Through these and non-Army sources, most Soldiers develop a cogent ethical framework that they use to inform and guide their behavior. Personal values serve a powerful self-regulatory function. Following this framework gives us a sense of satisfaction and self-worth, and violating our standards makes us feel guilty. Even in situations where doing the wrong thing brings benefit and doing the right thing places one at risk, many Soldiers use their ethical frameworks to select ethical behaviors. However, sometimes individuals with even the most codified and stringent moral standards can selectively disengage their ethical frameworks. Moral disengagement involves avoiding applying an ethical framework to a situation by using four distinct rationalizing techniques. By removing the standards of ethical behavior that they normally hold themselves to, Soldiers can engage in unethical and inhumane acts they would otherwise describe as inexcusable. How does this process work? And, more practically, how do we recognize and attenuate it in Soldiers under our command and ourselves? As noted by Bandura and colleagues in 1996, ethical frameworks can be disengaged by-- * Reconstruing the conduct. * Obscuring personal responsibility. * Misrepresenting or disregarding the harmful consequences of one's actions. * Vilifying the recipients of maltreatment by blaming and devaluing them. (1) We draw from recent research to describe this process, analyze a recently sensationalized (and controversial) example, and provide suggestions for preventing moral disengagement. How Does Moral Disengagement Work? Disengagement occurs through different psychological processes of restructuring the situation. Reconstruing conduct through framing. One road to moral disengagement is to flip the framing of the issue. Rather than focusing on how a behavior is unethical, Soldiers reframe the behavior as in service of a higher ethical purpose. Former Lieutenant Colonel Allen West retired from the Army after a scandal in which he allegedly violated ethical codes of conduct by discharging a firearm next to the head of an Iraqi detainee. West had received information that someone in the area planned to make an attempt on his life and believed that the detainee had relevant information. Rather than focusing on how discharging the firearm threatened the reputation of U.S. forces in a situation where cooperation was essential, West focused on how obtaining information would help prevent an attack against his life. West emphasized that an attack on him could also place those around him in danger, so obtaining information from the detainee would protect his men as well. A respected Army officer and a recipient of the Bronze Star for previous meritorious actions, West was able to violate ethical standards that he would otherwise value (such as the Geneva Convention). West was so successful in his moral disengagement that, as of this writing, he still adamantly defends his action even though it clearly violated explicit ethical codes of conduct and no evidence has ever emerged that his actions protected Soldiers' lives. Reconstruing conduct through the use of euphemistic language. Certain words-such as torture or execution--automatically raise red flags that prompt the use of ethical frameworks and standards. …
We examine employee evening marital sexual behavior as an antecedent to next-day job satisfaction... more We examine employee evening marital sexual behavior as an antecedent to next-day job satisfaction and job engagement. Drawing from theory on affective spillover and work to family conflict (WFC), o...
With rapid advancements in machine learning, we consider the epistemological opportunities presen... more With rapid advancements in machine learning, we consider the epistemological opportunities presented by this novel tool for promoting organizational theory. Our paper unfolds in three sections. We ...
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Drawing on the concept of a gale of creative destruction in a capitalistic economy, we argue that... more Drawing on the concept of a gale of creative destruction in a capitalistic economy, we argue that initiatives to assess the robustness of findings in the organizational literature should aim to simultaneously test competing ideas operating in the same theoretical space. In other words, replication efforts should seek not just to support or question the original findings, but also to replace them with revised, stronger theories with greater explanatory power. Achieving this will typically require adding new measures, conditions, and subject populations to research designs, in order to carry out conceptual tests of multiple theories in addition to directly replicating the original findings. To illustrate the value of the creative destruction approach for theory pruning in organizational scholarship, we describe recent replication initiatives re-examining culture and work morality, working parents' reasoning about day care options, and gender discrimination in hiring decisions. Sig...
Organizational scholars frequently rely on experiments using human confederates or descriptions o... more Organizational scholars frequently rely on experiments using human confederates or descriptions of vignette characters to study a range of phenomena. Although experiments with confederates allow for realism and rigor, human confederates have several critical limitations. We present a novel and efficient alternative: the use of responsive electronic confederates for manipulating constructs in dyadic, group, and team contexts. Specifically, we (a) define electronic confederates in an organizational research context, identify their optimal qualities, and review studies that have used them; (b) discuss challenges of utilizing human confederates and how electronic confederates may address these; (c) identify boundary conditions around using electronic confederates and, within these conditions, identify the many types of inquiry that can be aided by electronic confederates; (d) discuss validation strategies for electronic confederates, while increasing their believability to study partici...
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Abstract We propose that exposure to moral identity symbolization (i.e., outwardly projected disp... more Abstract We propose that exposure to moral identity symbolization (i.e., outwardly projected displays of one’s morality) leads observers to increase their helping behavior because they perceive the symbolizer as more scrutinizing of their moral characters, especially when observers expect or have an ongoing relationship with the symbolizer. We further propose that the effect of moral identity symbolization on observer behavior is diminished when symbolization involves behaviors that threaten the autonomy of observers (i.e., moral proselytizing). Empirical data from four studies, consisting of field surveys and experiments, supports our hypotheses. Taken together, this research suggests that moral identity symbolization in the workplace leads to helping behavior in observers as a function of heightened perceptions of moral scrutiny, but that such outward display of morality is only related to helping behavior when the symbolizers avoid proselytizing and when there is an ongoing relationship between the observers and the symbolizers.
To function optimally, most workgroups need an interdependent mix of members in strategically cor... more To function optimally, most workgroups need an interdependent mix of members in strategically core and noncore roles who work effectively together. However, whereas researchers have investigated the contributions of star performers and strategically core group members, relatively little is known about individuals in noncore roles and how they may facilitate group functioning and contribute to the relational climate of organizations. In this paper, we develop a multi-level, bottom-up model that explains two paths through which employees in noncore roles facilitate the dissemination of relational coordination in organizations. We leverage insights from self-categorization theory and relational coordination theory to explain different ways in which noncore role incumbents attempt to enact their noncore role identities. Then, we describe how the relational stances of those occupying core roles can enable or hinder the identity validation of those in noncore roles, and how validating the role-based identities ...
Previous research has identified many positive outcomes resulting from a deeply held moral identi... more Previous research has identified many positive outcomes resulting from a deeply held moral identity, while overlooking potential negative social consequences for the moral individual. Drawing from Benign Violation Theory, we explore the tension between moral identity and humor, and the downstream workplace consequence of such tension. Consistent with our hypotheses, compared with participants in the control condition, participants whose moral identities were situationally activated (Study 1a) or chronically accessible (Study 1b) were less likely to appreciate humor and generate jokes others found funny (Study 2), especially humor that involved benign moral violations. We also found that participants with a strong moral identity do not generally compensate for their lack of humor by telling more jokes that do not involve moral violations (Study 3). Additional field studies demonstrated that employees (Study 4) and leaders (Study 5) with strong moral identities and who display ethical leadership are perceived as less humorous by their coworkers and subordinates, and to the extent that this is the case are less liked in the workplace. Study 5 further demonstrated two competing mediating pathways-leaders with strong moral identities are perceived as less humorous but also as more trustworthy, with differentiated effects on interpersonal liking. Although having moral employees and leaders can come with many benefits, our research shows that there can be offsetting costs associated with an internalized moral identity: reduced humor and subsequent likability in the workplace. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Compared to macro-organizational researchers, micro-organizational researchers have generally esc... more Compared to macro-organizational researchers, micro-organizational researchers have generally eschewed archival sources of data as a means of advancing knowledge. The goal of this paper is to discuss emerging opportunities to use archival research for the purposes of advancing and testing theory in micro-organizational research. We discuss eight specific strengths common to archival micro-organizational research and how they differ from other traditional methods. We further discuss limitations of archival research, as well as strategies for mitigating these limitations. Taken together, we provide a toolkit to encourage micro-organizational researchers to capitalize on archival data.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management
Truthfulness and accuracy are critical for effective organizational functioning, but dishonesty (... more Truthfulness and accuracy are critical for effective organizational functioning, but dishonesty (in the form of lying, misrepresentation, and fraud) continue to be pervasive in organizational life. Workplace dishonesty is an inherently unique behavior that should be distinguished from broader categories of unethical workplace behavior and organizational deviance, in that dishonesty is an overt social behavior—that is, requiring an audience to exist as a behavior. Compared to stealing or cheating, dishonest acts require knowing fabrication of false information, intended to deceive an anticipated audience. Thus, considering the overt social aspect of dishonesty (compared to the relatively clandestine behaviors of cheating and stealing) may add conceptual clarity to the construct of workplace dishonesty, which is surprisingly absent from extant literature. The potential audience for dishonest acts in the workplace is notably critical, in that dishonest organizational actors generally a...
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Nov 1, 2020
Drawing on the concept of a gale of creative destruction in a capitalistic economy, we argue that... more Drawing on the concept of a gale of creative destruction in a capitalistic economy, we argue that initiatives to assess the robustness of findings in the organizational literature should aim to simultaneously test competing ideas operating in the same theoretical space. In other words, replication efforts should seek not just to support or question the original findings, but also to replace them with revised, stronger theories with greater explanatory power. Achieving this will typically require adding new measures, conditions, and subject populations to research designs, in order to carry out conceptual tests of multiple theories in addition to directly replicating the original findings. To illustrate the value of the creative destruction approach for theory pruning in organizational scholarship, we describe recent replication initiatives reexamining culture and work morality, working parents' reasoning about day care options, and gender discrimination in hiring decisions. Significance statement: It is becoming increasingly clear that many, if not most, published research findings across scientific fields are not readily replicable when the same method is repeated. Although extremely valuable, failed replications risk leaving a theoretical void-reducing confidence the original theoretical prediction is true, but not replacing it with positive evidence in favor of an alternative theory. We introduce the creative destruction approach to replication, which combines theory pruning methods from the field of management with emerging best practices from the open science movement, with the aim of making replications as generative as possible. In effect, we advocate for a Replication 2.0 movement in which the goal shifts from checking on the reliability of past findings to actively engaging in competitive theory testing and theory building. Scientific transparency statement: The materials, code, and data for this article are posted publicly on the Open Science Framework, with links provided in the article. pressures Meehl (1978), Popper (1963), and others envisioned. Indeed, organizational scholars have long lamented the proliferation of new theories within management research (Hambrick, 2007), with meaningful attempts at theory reduction remaining largely absent from the literature (Aguinis, Pierce, Bosco, & Muslin, 2009; Leavitt, Mitchell, & Peterson, 2010). Platt (1964) used the term strong inference to describe at a high level how faster-moving sciences tend to pit theories against one another to accelerate progress (see also Albertini, 2017). To address this challenge, management scholars have slowly
The present study uses measures of implicit and explicit values to predict moral behaviors. Impli... more The present study uses measures of implicit and explicit values to predict moral behaviors. Implicit value measures based on a word-fragment completion tasks were developed in this study to assess implicit values. Because values and moral processes are believed to operate at both explicit and implicit levels, it was hypothesized that both implicit and explicit values would predict moral behaviors. Results from a laboratory study show that both implicit and explicit values predicted actual moral behavior, consistent with dual process theories of morality. Chronic collective identity moderated the relation of both implicit and explicit values to ethical behavior. Theoretical and practical implications for the use of both explicit and implicit value measures in research and applied settings are discussed. RUNNING HEAD: Values and Ethical Behavior 3 3 Explicit and Implicit Values as a Predictor of Ethical Behavior Reports of corporate scandals and moral failings of public figures (from famous athletes and coaches to respected elected officials) have recently attracted much attention from the media. Attention to these issues is important given the enormous social and economic costs that are associated with organizational and employee misconduct. For example, employee theft alone is estimated to cost organizations 10 to 120 billions of dollars in annual revenues (Bourke, 1994). Even greater still, recent reports estimate that US corporations lose nearly 1 trillion dollars due to varied corporate malfeasances (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2008). In reaction to such scandals and other social ills, politicians, religious leaders, and laypersons alike have repeatedly invoked the importance of values for maintaining an ethical society. Tacit in these cries for a value-based society is the assumption that internalizing sets of values will actually produce ethical behavior. Although studies of behavioral ethics have proliferated, with scholars successfully identifying individual, contextual, and institutional factors which predict malfeasance in organizational settings and daily life (see Kish-Gephart, Harrison, & Treviño, 2010, for a recent meta-analysis), studies to date have not yet shown how individuals' values influence their ethical choices. This omission is surprising, given that values represent a relatively mature area of psychological inquiry (e.g., Bardi, Calogero & Mullen, 2008; Bardi & Schwartz, 2003), and are a topic of modern social and political discourse. Further, recent work has implicated reflexive, intuitive processes as critical drivers of moral judgments and behaviors (Haidt, 2001; Reynolds, 2006; Reynolds, Leavitt, & Decelles, 2010), and values have been conceptualized to operate at least partly through automatic processes (Bardi & Schwartz, 2003). We argue that insight into these automatic processes is especially important given that much of ethical research has focused on understanding moral or immoral action as the RUNNING HEAD: Values and Ethical Behavior 4 4 consequence of rational, cost-benefit modes of thinking (Bennis, Medin, & Bartels, 2010; Ginges, Atran, Sachdeva, & Medin, 2011). Therefore, investigating how values influence moral choice and behavior at both conscious and non-conscious levels of awareness seems both important and timely. Although there are multiple ways of referring to automatic phenomena, we will use the term implicit to refer to phenomenon that are non-conscious and proceed without deliberate intention. In contrast, we use the term explicit to refer to phenomenon that are accessible to conscious thought. In keeping with convention within the moral psychology literature, we will also use the terms moral and ethical interchangeably. In this paper, we present our findings of using a newly developed measure of implicit values based upon Schwartz's (1992) values circumplex with analogous explicit values as predictors of moral and immoral action. We show that values are important determinants of moral actions, but the magnitude of values' influence depended on whether it was implicitly or explicitly represented. Values as Predictors of Ethical Decision-Making and Moral Behavior According to Schwartz' value theory (1992), values can be defined as relatively stable, motivational constructs that guide people's perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors towards achieving specific higher order goals. Importantly, his work identified ten broad types of values that are both universally endorsed (Schwartz, 1992; Schwartz & Boehnke, 2004; Schwartz & Sagiv, 1995) and remain relatively stable during adulthood (Feather, 1971; Schwartz, 1992).As shown in Figure 1, these ten values can be organized into four higher-order value factors. Selfenhancement includes values that emphasize personal achievement and self-interest (e.g., power, achievement, hedonism), whereas self-transcendence emphasizes values that promote the welfare of others (e.g., universalism, benevolence, self-direction). Conservation represents RUNNING HEAD: Values and Ethical Behavior 5 5 values that endorse preserving and maintaining the status quo (e.g., tradition, conformity, security). Finally, openness to change reflects values that emphasize "independent thought and actions that favor change" (Schwartz & Sagiv, 1995, p. 94). Focusing on values in the study of moral thought and behavior is important for several reasons. First, although studies have shown that the activities and behaviors of people within a society can be predicted by the underlining values that define that particular society (Bardi, Calogero, & Mullen, 2008), research that examines how personal values influence ethical behavior of individuals has not been thoroughly explored. This oversight is surprising as values and attitudes have been suggested as being strong antecedents of behavior (Hurtz & Williams, 2009). However, most empirical research has explored how personal values influence moral intentions and judgments (e.g., Finegan, 1994; Fritzsche & Oz, 2007; Glover, Bumpus, Logan, & Ciesla, 1997), rather than actual moral behavior. Second, values can account for moral and immoral actions that cannot be readily explained by cost-benefit decision making paradigms. In fact, this latter perspective posits that moral or immoral actions are the result of calculated attempts at realizing personal objectives and other instrumental gains. Although this approach has dominated much of ethical research (Ginges, Atran, Sachdeva, & Medin, 2011), this cold, calculative approach for understanding moral action experiences difficulty when explaining moral phenomenon that appear to be driven by sacred values or latent social principles (Rai & Fiske, 2011). For example, there is qualitative research to suggest that contrary to popular belief, membership into extremist organizations (e.g., Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah) is not driven by the desire to achieve political or economic gain, but by the desire to protect or uphold fundamental social values (Argo, 2009; Ginges, Atran, Sachdeva, & Medin, 2011). In fact, Argo (2009) demonstrated that the decision to join the Palestinian
We examine employee evening marital sexual behavior as an antecedent to next-day job satisfaction... more We examine employee evening marital sexual behavior as an antecedent to next-day job satisfaction and job engagement. Drawing from theory on affective spillover and work to family conflict (WFC), o...
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about ... more [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it. --Denis Diderot THROUGH INTUITION, VARIOUS EXPERIENCES, reactions to the experiences of others, and exposure to standards held by others, people develop a set of moral standards that they apply to their own actions. For Soldiers, the Army plays an important role in the development of these standards. Leaders, trainers, and educators aid Soldiers in inculcating institutional values. Moreover, the Army provides Soldiers explicit codes, such as the Geneva Convention, the Law of Land Warfare (Field Manual 27-10), and the U.S. Soldiers Creed. Through these and non-Army sources, most Soldiers develop a cogent ethical framework that they use to inform and guide their behavior. Personal values serve a powerful self-regulatory function. Following this framework gives us a sense of satisfaction and self-worth, and violating our standards makes us feel guilty. Even in situations where doing the wrong thing brings benefit and doing the right thing places one at risk, many Soldiers use their ethical frameworks to select ethical behaviors. However, sometimes individuals with even the most codified and stringent moral standards can selectively disengage their ethical frameworks. Moral disengagement involves avoiding applying an ethical framework to a situation by using four distinct rationalizing techniques. By removing the standards of ethical behavior that they normally hold themselves to, Soldiers can engage in unethical and inhumane acts they would otherwise describe as inexcusable. How does this process work? And, more practically, how do we recognize and attenuate it in Soldiers under our command and ourselves? As noted by Bandura and colleagues in 1996, ethical frameworks can be disengaged by-- * Reconstruing the conduct. * Obscuring personal responsibility. * Misrepresenting or disregarding the harmful consequences of one's actions. * Vilifying the recipients of maltreatment by blaming and devaluing them. (1) We draw from recent research to describe this process, analyze a recently sensationalized (and controversial) example, and provide suggestions for preventing moral disengagement. How Does Moral Disengagement Work? Disengagement occurs through different psychological processes of restructuring the situation. Reconstruing conduct through framing. One road to moral disengagement is to flip the framing of the issue. Rather than focusing on how a behavior is unethical, Soldiers reframe the behavior as in service of a higher ethical purpose. Former Lieutenant Colonel Allen West retired from the Army after a scandal in which he allegedly violated ethical codes of conduct by discharging a firearm next to the head of an Iraqi detainee. West had received information that someone in the area planned to make an attempt on his life and believed that the detainee had relevant information. Rather than focusing on how discharging the firearm threatened the reputation of U.S. forces in a situation where cooperation was essential, West focused on how obtaining information would help prevent an attack against his life. West emphasized that an attack on him could also place those around him in danger, so obtaining information from the detainee would protect his men as well. A respected Army officer and a recipient of the Bronze Star for previous meritorious actions, West was able to violate ethical standards that he would otherwise value (such as the Geneva Convention). West was so successful in his moral disengagement that, as of this writing, he still adamantly defends his action even though it clearly violated explicit ethical codes of conduct and no evidence has ever emerged that his actions protected Soldiers' lives. Reconstruing conduct through the use of euphemistic language. Certain words-such as torture or execution--automatically raise red flags that prompt the use of ethical frameworks and standards. …
We examine employee evening marital sexual behavior as an antecedent to next-day job satisfaction... more We examine employee evening marital sexual behavior as an antecedent to next-day job satisfaction and job engagement. Drawing from theory on affective spillover and work to family conflict (WFC), o...
With rapid advancements in machine learning, we consider the epistemological opportunities presen... more With rapid advancements in machine learning, we consider the epistemological opportunities presented by this novel tool for promoting organizational theory. Our paper unfolds in three sections. We ...
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Drawing on the concept of a gale of creative destruction in a capitalistic economy, we argue that... more Drawing on the concept of a gale of creative destruction in a capitalistic economy, we argue that initiatives to assess the robustness of findings in the organizational literature should aim to simultaneously test competing ideas operating in the same theoretical space. In other words, replication efforts should seek not just to support or question the original findings, but also to replace them with revised, stronger theories with greater explanatory power. Achieving this will typically require adding new measures, conditions, and subject populations to research designs, in order to carry out conceptual tests of multiple theories in addition to directly replicating the original findings. To illustrate the value of the creative destruction approach for theory pruning in organizational scholarship, we describe recent replication initiatives re-examining culture and work morality, working parents' reasoning about day care options, and gender discrimination in hiring decisions. Sig...
Organizational scholars frequently rely on experiments using human confederates or descriptions o... more Organizational scholars frequently rely on experiments using human confederates or descriptions of vignette characters to study a range of phenomena. Although experiments with confederates allow for realism and rigor, human confederates have several critical limitations. We present a novel and efficient alternative: the use of responsive electronic confederates for manipulating constructs in dyadic, group, and team contexts. Specifically, we (a) define electronic confederates in an organizational research context, identify their optimal qualities, and review studies that have used them; (b) discuss challenges of utilizing human confederates and how electronic confederates may address these; (c) identify boundary conditions around using electronic confederates and, within these conditions, identify the many types of inquiry that can be aided by electronic confederates; (d) discuss validation strategies for electronic confederates, while increasing their believability to study partici...
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Abstract We propose that exposure to moral identity symbolization (i.e., outwardly projected disp... more Abstract We propose that exposure to moral identity symbolization (i.e., outwardly projected displays of one’s morality) leads observers to increase their helping behavior because they perceive the symbolizer as more scrutinizing of their moral characters, especially when observers expect or have an ongoing relationship with the symbolizer. We further propose that the effect of moral identity symbolization on observer behavior is diminished when symbolization involves behaviors that threaten the autonomy of observers (i.e., moral proselytizing). Empirical data from four studies, consisting of field surveys and experiments, supports our hypotheses. Taken together, this research suggests that moral identity symbolization in the workplace leads to helping behavior in observers as a function of heightened perceptions of moral scrutiny, but that such outward display of morality is only related to helping behavior when the symbolizers avoid proselytizing and when there is an ongoing relationship between the observers and the symbolizers.
To function optimally, most workgroups need an interdependent mix of members in strategically cor... more To function optimally, most workgroups need an interdependent mix of members in strategically core and noncore roles who work effectively together. However, whereas researchers have investigated the contributions of star performers and strategically core group members, relatively little is known about individuals in noncore roles and how they may facilitate group functioning and contribute to the relational climate of organizations. In this paper, we develop a multi-level, bottom-up model that explains two paths through which employees in noncore roles facilitate the dissemination of relational coordination in organizations. We leverage insights from self-categorization theory and relational coordination theory to explain different ways in which noncore role incumbents attempt to enact their noncore role identities. Then, we describe how the relational stances of those occupying core roles can enable or hinder the identity validation of those in noncore roles, and how validating the role-based identities ...
Previous research has identified many positive outcomes resulting from a deeply held moral identi... more Previous research has identified many positive outcomes resulting from a deeply held moral identity, while overlooking potential negative social consequences for the moral individual. Drawing from Benign Violation Theory, we explore the tension between moral identity and humor, and the downstream workplace consequence of such tension. Consistent with our hypotheses, compared with participants in the control condition, participants whose moral identities were situationally activated (Study 1a) or chronically accessible (Study 1b) were less likely to appreciate humor and generate jokes others found funny (Study 2), especially humor that involved benign moral violations. We also found that participants with a strong moral identity do not generally compensate for their lack of humor by telling more jokes that do not involve moral violations (Study 3). Additional field studies demonstrated that employees (Study 4) and leaders (Study 5) with strong moral identities and who display ethical leadership are perceived as less humorous by their coworkers and subordinates, and to the extent that this is the case are less liked in the workplace. Study 5 further demonstrated two competing mediating pathways-leaders with strong moral identities are perceived as less humorous but also as more trustworthy, with differentiated effects on interpersonal liking. Although having moral employees and leaders can come with many benefits, our research shows that there can be offsetting costs associated with an internalized moral identity: reduced humor and subsequent likability in the workplace. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Compared to macro-organizational researchers, micro-organizational researchers have generally esc... more Compared to macro-organizational researchers, micro-organizational researchers have generally eschewed archival sources of data as a means of advancing knowledge. The goal of this paper is to discuss emerging opportunities to use archival research for the purposes of advancing and testing theory in micro-organizational research. We discuss eight specific strengths common to archival micro-organizational research and how they differ from other traditional methods. We further discuss limitations of archival research, as well as strategies for mitigating these limitations. Taken together, we provide a toolkit to encourage micro-organizational researchers to capitalize on archival data.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management
Truthfulness and accuracy are critical for effective organizational functioning, but dishonesty (... more Truthfulness and accuracy are critical for effective organizational functioning, but dishonesty (in the form of lying, misrepresentation, and fraud) continue to be pervasive in organizational life. Workplace dishonesty is an inherently unique behavior that should be distinguished from broader categories of unethical workplace behavior and organizational deviance, in that dishonesty is an overt social behavior—that is, requiring an audience to exist as a behavior. Compared to stealing or cheating, dishonest acts require knowing fabrication of false information, intended to deceive an anticipated audience. Thus, considering the overt social aspect of dishonesty (compared to the relatively clandestine behaviors of cheating and stealing) may add conceptual clarity to the construct of workplace dishonesty, which is surprisingly absent from extant literature. The potential audience for dishonest acts in the workplace is notably critical, in that dishonest organizational actors generally a...
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