۱- INTRODUCTION

۲- METHOD

۳- RESULTS

REFERENCES

Abstract

Unethical pro‐organizational behaviors (UPB) are actions that break rules or estab‐ lished standards, but are undertaken for the purposes of helping the organization or coworkers. Although research has already examined the role of work ethic and or‐ ganizational commitment in shaping employee behaviors, little is known about the reason for and antecedents of employees undertaking UPB. In a sample of 425 work‐ ing adults from multiple industries, we tested whether work ethic and organizational commitment dimensions predict the readiness to undertake UPB. The time‐lagged study showed that the work ethics dimension “hard work,” and normative and affec‐ tive organizational commitment, are positive predictors of UPB. The ethics dimen‐ sions “morality/ethics,” “delay of gratification,” “centrality of work” and “anti‐leisure attitudes” are negative predictors of UPB.

INTRODUCTION

A growing number of studies show increasing scholarly interest in the concept of unethical pro‐organizational behavior (UPB) (Tsiavia, 2016), since the first publication of the original article by Umphress, Bingham, and Mitchell (2010). Because it is common and costly for organizations, the subject is of interest to practitioners and schol‐ ars alike (Matherne, III & Litchfield, 2012). To date, there is empiri‐ cal evidence that confirms relations between UPB and identification with the leader or organization (Effelsberg, Solga, & Gurt, 2014; Kong, 2016). Yet, there is a gap between work ethic (Weber, 1958) and organizational commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991) and the study of UPB. The present research fills this gap and provides new evi‐ dence on the antecedents of UPBs. Recently, much attention has been paid to unethical behaviors that are not addressed to harm an organization or coworkers, but to benefit them. Thus, an interesting question is why workers who are good, loyal, and strongly identified with the organization, decide to break the rules and moral standards? Therefore, the present study investigated relations between work ethic dimensions and organiza‐ tional commitment, and employee willingness to undertake unethi‐ cal behaviors. Specifically, we ask two research questions. First, do the dimensions of work ethic and organizational commitment predict individual’s willingness to engage in UPB? And if so, to what extent is each dimension a predictor. Second, is work ethic or commitment a stronger predictor of UPB?