Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T09:10:27.477Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Exploring the Impact of Job Insecurity on Employees’ Unethical Behavior

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2016

Ericka R. Lawrence  and
K. Michele Kacmar
Ericka R. Lawrence
Affiliation:
East Carolina University
K. Michele Kacmar
Affiliation:
Texas State University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The multitude of corporate scandals has prompted research that examines factors that influence an individual’s engagement in unethical behavior. This article extends previous research by examining the psychological processes through which unethical behavior may occur. We develop and test a model that uses self-regulation theory to explain and predict how and under what circumstances individuals are likely to engage in unethical behavior. Results from data collected from 107 professionals at two points in time and 205 employees from various industries confirm that job insecurity increases emotional exhaustion, which subsequently impairs an employee’s ability to activate self-regulating processes to avoid engaging in unethical behavior. However, the link between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion as well as the mediated relationship between job insecurity and unethical behavior through emotional exhaustion are weaker for employees who have high adaptability and stronger for employees who are highly embedded in their organization.

Keywords

job insecurityemotional exhaustionunethical pro-organizational behaviorsadaptabilityjob embeddedness
Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 39 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Akaah, I. P. 1992. Social inclusion as a marketing ethics correlate. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(8): 599–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ambrose, M. L., Schminke, M., & Mayer, D. M. 2013. Trickle-down effects of supervisor perceptions of interactional justice: A moderated mediation approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(4): 678–689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashford, S. J., Lee, C., & Bobko, P. 1989. Content, cause, and consequences of job insecurity: A theory-based measure and substantive test. Academy of Management Journal, 32: 803–829.Google Scholar
Ashford, S. J., & Taylor, M. S. 1990. Adaptation to work transitions: An integrative approach. In Ferris, G. R. & Rowland, K. M. (Eds.), Research in personnel and human resources management, Vol 8:1–39. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. 1991. Social cognitive theory of moral thought and action. In Kurtines, W. M. & Gewirtz, J. L. (Eds.), Handbook of moral behavior and development, Vol. 1: 45–103. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. 1999. Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3(3): 193–209.Google Scholar
Barnes, C. M., Schaubroeck, J., Ghumman, S. 2011. Lack of sleep and unethical conduct. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 115: 169–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrick, M. R., Stewart, G. L., & Piotrowski, M. 2002. Personality and job performance: Test of the mediating effects of motivation among sales representatives. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(2): 43–51.Google Scholar
Bass, K., Barnett, T., Brown, G. 1999. Individual difference variables, ethical judgments, and ethical behavior intentions. Journal of Business Ethics, 9(2): 183–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, R. F. 1997. Esteem threat, self-regulatory breakdown, and emotional distress. Review of General Psychology, 2: 145–174.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F. 1998. The self. In Gilbert, D. T., Fiske, S. T., & Lindzey, G. (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology, 4 th ed., Vol 1: 680–740. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F. 2001. Ego depletion, the executive function, and self-control: An energy model of the self in personality. In Roberts, B. W. & Hogan, R. (Eds.), Personality psychology in the workplace: Decade of behavior: 299–316. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., & Bushman, B. J. 2010. Social Psychology and human nature (2 nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., & Heatherton, T. F. 1996. Self-regulation failure: An overview. Psychological Inquiry, 7(3): 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., & Heatherton, T. F., & Tice, D. M. 1993. When ego threats lead to self-regulation failure: Negative consequences of high self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(1): 141–156.Google Scholar
Becker, T. E. 2005. Potential problems in the statistical control of variables in organizational research: A qualitative analysis with recommendations. Organizational Research Methods, 8(3): 274–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belar, C., Brown, R., Hersch, L., Hornyak, L., Rozensky, R., Sheridan, E., Brown, R. T., & Reed, G. W. 2001. Self-assessment in clinical health psychology: A model for ethical expansion of practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 32: 135–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borg, I., & Elizur, D. 1992. Job insecurity: Correlates, moderators and measurement. International Journal of Manpower, 13: 13–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borkowski, S. C., & Ugras, Y. J. 1998. Business students and ethics: A meta-analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 17: 1117–1127.Google Scholar
Bussing, A. 1999. Can control at work and social support moderate psychological consequences of job insecurity? Results for a quasi-experimental study in the steel industry. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8: 219–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caruso, E. M. & Gino, F. 2011. Blind ethics: Closing one’s eyes polarizes moral judgment and discourages dishonest behavior. Cognition, 118(2): 280–285.Google Scholar
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. 1981. Attention and self-regulation: A control theory approach to human behavior. New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Chan, D. 2000. Understanding adaptation to changes in the work environment: Integrating individual difference and learning perspectives. In Ferris, G. R. (Ed.), Research in personnel and human resources management,Vol. 18: 1–42. Stamford, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Cheng, G. H. L., & Chan, D. K. S. 2008. Who suffers more from job insecurity? A meta-analytic review. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 57(2): 272–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chugh, D., Bazerman, M., & Banaji, M. 2005. Bounded ethicality as a psychological barrier to recognizing conflicts of interest. In Moore, D., Cain, D., Lowenstein, G., & Bazerman, M. (Eds.), Conflict of Interest: Challenges and solutions in business, law, medicine, and public policy: 74–95. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Christian, M. S. & Ellis, A. P. J. 2011. Examining the effects of sleep deprivation on workplace deviance: a self-regulatory perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 54: 913–934.Google Scholar
Christie, R. & Geis, L. 1970. Studies in machiavellianism. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S., & Aiken, L. 2003. Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Mahway, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Crant, J. M. 2000. Proactive behavior in organizations. Journal of Management, 26: 435–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cronbach, L. J. 1951. Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika 16(3): 297–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeCuyper, N., DeWitte, H., Elst, T.V., & Handaja, Y. 2010. Objective threat of unemployment and situational uncertainty during a restructuring: Associations with perceived job insecurity and strain. Journal of Business Psychology, 25: 75–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Detert, J. R., Treviño, L. K., & Sweitzer, V. L. 2008. Moral disengagement in ethical decision making: A study of antecedents and outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(2): 374–391.Google Scholar
DeWitte, H. 1999. Job insecurity and psychological well-being: Review of the literature and exploration of some unresolved issues. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8(2): 155–177.Google Scholar
Eberly, M., Holtmon, B., Lee, T., & Mitchell, T. 2009. Control voluntary turnover by understanding its causes. In Locke, E. A. (Ed.), Handbook of principles of organizational behavior New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Eby, L. T., Casper, W. J., Lockwood, A., Bordeaux, C., & Brinley, A. 2005. Work and family research in IO/OB: Content analysis and review of the literature (1980-2002). Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66: 124–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A. & Guthrie, I. K. 1997. Coping with stress: The roles of regulation and development. In Wolchik, S. A. & Sandler, I. N. (Eds.), Handbook of children’s coping: Linking theory and intervention: 41–70. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrie, J. E. 2001. Is job insecurity armful to health? Journal of Royal Society of Medicine, 94: 71–76.Google Scholar
Field, R. H. G., & Abelson, M. A. 1982. Climate: A reconceptualization and proposed model. Human Relations, 35(3): 181–201.Google Scholar
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. 1981. Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 28: 39–50.Google Scholar
Franke, G. R., Crown, D. F., & Spake, D. F. 1997. Gender differences in ethical perceptions of business practices: A social role thoery perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82: 920–934.Google Scholar
Frey, B. F. 2000. The impact of moral intensity on decision-making in a business context. Journal of Business Ethics, 26(3): 181–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fugate, M., Kinicki, A. J., & Ashforth, B. E. 2004. Employability: A psycho-social construct its dimensions, and applications. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65: 14–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gino, F., Schweitzer, M. E., Mead, N. L., & Ariely, D. 2011. Unable to resist temptation: How self-control depletion promotes unethical behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 115: 191–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, A. M. & Mayer, D. M. 2009. Good soldiers and good actors: Prosocial and impression management motives as interactive predictors of affiliative citizenship behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94: 900–912.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenhalgh, L., & Rosenblatt, Z. 1984. Job insecurity: Toward conceptual clarity. Academy of Management Review, 3: 438–448.Google Scholar
Halbesleben, J. R. B. 2006. Sources of social support and burnout: A meta-analytic test of conservation of resources model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91: 1134–1145.Google Scholar
Hancock, P. A., & Warm, J. S. 1989. A dynamic model of stress and sustained attention. Human Factors, 31(5): 519–537.Google Scholar
Hartley, J., Jacobson, D., Klandermans, B., & van Vuuren, T. 1991. Job Insecurity: Coping with jobs at risk. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Hayes, A. F. 2013. Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis a regression-based approach. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Hellgren, J., Sverke, M., & Isaksson, K. 1999. A two-dimensional approach to job insecurity: Consequences for employee attitudes and well-being. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8: 179–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobfoll, S. E. 1988. The ecology of stress. New York: Hemisphere.Google Scholar
Hobfoll, S. E. 1998. Stress, culture, and community. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobfoll, S. E. 2001. The influence of culture, community, and the nested self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 50: 337–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holtom, B., Mitchell, T., Lee, T., & Eberly, M. 2008. Turnover and retention research: A glance at the past, a closer review of the present, and a venture into the future. The Academy of Management Annals, 2: 231–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1): 1–55.Google Scholar
Jones, T. M. 1991. Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contingent model. Academy of Management Review, 16(2): 366–395.Google Scholar
Kish-Gephart, J. J., Harrison, D. A., & Treviño, L. K. 2010. Bad apples, bad cases, and bad barrels: Meta-analytic evidence about sources of unethical decisions at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(1): 1–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, T. W., Mitchell, T. R., Sablynski, C. J., Burton, J. P., & Holtom, B. C. 2004. The effects of job embeddedness on organizational citizenship, job performance, volitional absences, and voluntary turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 47: 711–722.Google Scholar
Liden, R. C., & Maslyn, J. M. 1998. Multidimensionality of leader–member exchange: An empirical assessment through scale development. Journal of Management, 24: 43–72.Google Scholar
Lindell, M. K., & Whitney, D. J. 2001. Accounting for common methoc varaince in cross-sectional designs. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1): 114–121.Google Scholar
Lykken, D. T. 1968. Statistical significance in psychological research. Psychological Bulletin, 70(3): 151–159.Google Scholar
Martin, K. D., & Cullen, J. B. 2006. Continuities and extensions of ethical climate theory: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Business Ethics, 69: 175–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marwitz, M. G., Mayer, D. M., Hoobler, J. M., Wayne, S. J., & Marinova, S. J. 2012. A trickle-down model of abusive supervision. Personnel Psychology, 65: 325–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maslach, C. 1982. Burnout: The cost of caring. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
May, D. R., Schwoerer, C. E., Reed, K., & Potter, P. 1997. Employee reactions to ergonomic job design: The moderating effects of health locus of control and self-efficacy. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2(1): 11–24.Google Scholar
McCabe, D. L., Treviño, L. K., & Butterfield, K. D. 1996. The influence of collegiate and corporate codes of conduct on ethics-related behavior in the workplace. Business Ethics Quarterly, 6: 461–476.Google Scholar
Mead, N., Baumeister, R. F., Gino, F., Schweitzer, M., & Ariely, D. 2009. Too tired to tell the truth: Self-control resource depletion and dishonesty. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(3): 594–597.Google Scholar
Mitchell, T. R., Holtom, B. C., Lee, T. W., Sablynski, C. J., & Erez, M. 2001. Why people stay: Using job embeddedness to predict voluntary turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 44: 1102–1121.Google Scholar
Moore, C. 2008. Moral disengagement in processes of organizational corruption. Journal of Business Ethics, 80: 129–139.Google Scholar
Moore, C., Detert, J. R., Treviño, L. K., Baker, V. L., & Mayer, D. M. 2012. Why employees do bad things: Moral disengagement and unethical organizational behavior. Personnel Psychology, 65: 1–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, R. W., & Hall, D. T. 2001. A proposed model of individual adaptability. Unpublished technical report. San Diego, CA.Google Scholar
Muraven, M., & Baumeister, R. F. 2000. Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: Does self-control resemble a muscle? Psychological Bulletin, 126: 247–259.Google Scholar
Muraven, M., Tice, D. M., & Baumeister, R. F. 1998. Self-control as a limited resource. Regulatory depletion patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74: 774–789.Google Scholar
O’Connell, D. J., McNeely, E., & Hall, D. T. 2008. Unpacking personal adaptability at work. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 14: 248–259.Google Scholar
Pearce, J. L. 1998. Job insecurity is important, but not for the reasons you might think: The example of contingent workers. In Cooper, C. L. & Rousseau, D. M. (Eds.), Trends in organizational behavior, Vol. 5: 31–46. Chichester, England: Wiley.Google Scholar
Pearlman, K., & Barney, M. F. 2000. Selection for a changing workplace. In Kehoe, J. G. (Ed.), Managing selection in changing organizations: Human resource strategies: 3–72. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J., & Podsakoff, N. P. 2003. Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5): 879–903.Google Scholar
Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. 1996. The Maslach burnout inventory – general survey. In Maslach, C., Jackson, S. E., & Leiter, M. P. (Eds.), Maslach burnout inventory: 19–26. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
Schmeichel, B. J., & Baumeister, R. F. 2004. Self-regulatory strength. In Baumeister, R. F. & Vohs, K. D. (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: 84–98. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., & Crant, J. M. 2001. What do proactive people do? A longitudinal model linking proactive personality and career success. Personnel Psychology, 54: 845–874.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sverke, M., & Hellgren, J., & Naswell, K. 2002. No security: A meta-analysis and review of job insecurity and its consequences. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 7(3): 242–264.Google Scholar
Tenbrunsel, A. E. & Smith-Crowe, K. 2008. Ethical decision making: Where we’ve been and where we’re going. Academy of Management Annals, 2: 545–607.Google Scholar
Tenbrunsel, A. E., & Messick, D. M. 2004. Ethical fading: The role of self-deception in unethical behavior. Social Justice Research, 17: 223–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treviño, L. K. 1986. Ethical decision making in organizations: A person-situation interactionist model. Academy of Management Review, 11: 601–617.Google Scholar
Treviño, L. K., Butterfield, K. D., & McCabe, D. L. 1998. The ethical context in organizations: Influences on employee attitudes and behaviors. Business Ethics Quarterly, 8: 447–477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treviño, L. K., den Nieuwenboear, N. A., & Kish-Gephart, J. J. 2014. (Un)Ethical behavior in organizations. Annals Review of Psychology, 65: 635–660.Google Scholar
Treviño, L. K., & Weaver, G. R. 2003. Managing ethics in business organizations: Social scientific perspectives. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Treviño, L. K., Weaver, G. R., & Reynolds, S. J. 2006. Behavioral ethics in organizations: A review. Journal of Management, 32: 951–990.Google Scholar
Treviño, L. K., & Youngblood, S. A. 1990. Bad apples in bad barrels: A causal analysis of ethical decision-making behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75: 378–385.Google Scholar
Umphress, E. E., Bingham, J. B., & Mitchell, M. S. 2010. Unethical behavior in the name of the company: The moderating effect of organizational identification and positive reciprocity beliefs on unethical pro-organizational behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95: 769–780.Google Scholar
Vohs, K. D., & Faber, R. J. 2007. Spent resources: self-regulatory resource availability affects impulse buying. Journal of Consumer Research, 33(4): 534–547.Google Scholar
Vohs, K. D., & Heatherton, T. F. 2000. Self-regulatory failure: A resource-depletion approach. Psychological Science, 11(3): 249–254.Google Scholar
Vohs, K. D., & Schmeichel, B. J. 2003. Self-regulation and the extended now: Controlling the self alters the subjective experience of time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2): 217–230.Google Scholar
Warren, D. E., Gaspar, J. P., & Laufer, W. S. 2014. Is formal ethics training merely cosmetic? A study of ethics training and ethical organizational culture. Business Ethics Quarterly, 24(1): 85–117.Google Scholar
Zapf, D., Dormann, C., & Frese, M. 1996. Longitudinal studies in organizational stress research: A review of the literature with reference to methodological issues. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 1: 145–169.Google Scholar