Work

A bright side to unethical pro-organizational behavior: Improving work performance by satisfying psychological needs

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Despite scholarly efforts to unpack the outcomes of unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), its impact has not yet been fully understood. Drawing on self-determination theory, this research advances knowledge about the consequences of UPB by investigating its relationship with psychological needs fulfillment (PNF) and downstream service performance. This research further investigates whether the consequences of UPB are more pronounced among employees with a strong versus weak sense of work meaningfulness. Across a time-lagged multi-source survey (Study 1) and an experiment (Study 2), the results show that UPB is positively associated with PNF, particularly for employees with a strong sense of work meaningfulness, and that this relationship predicts higher in-role service performance and customer-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. Therefore, this research reveals a novel bright side to UPB, providing insight into factors motivates UPB and how to mitigate it.

Source: Journal of Business Research

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114879

Author: Zaid Oqla Alqhaiwi

Institution: RMIT University

Language: English

Topic: Ethics in Business and Education

Subfield: Information Systems and Management

Field: Decision Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,820