Enhance Moral Awareness or Produce Moral Licensing? A Research on the Double-edge Effects of Reputation for Helping Others

Abstract

Abstract: Unethical behavior is widely present in various organizations and poses great harm to their development. Existing research on the causes of unethical behavior focuses mainly on leadership, team climate, and so on. However, little is known about how employee reputation affects unethical behavior. This research utilizes social information processing theory and moral licensing theory to explore how reputation for helping others affects unethical behavior. 391 valid matching questionnaires were collected in a multi-period survey. Our findings show that: (1) Reputation for helping others positively affects moral awareness. (2) Reputation for helping others reduces unethical behavior by enhancing moral awareness. (3) Reputation for helping others positively affects psychological entitlement. (4) Reputation for helping others promotes unethical behavior by increasing psychological entitlement. This research verifies the double-edged sword effect of reputation for helping others on employees. This, to some extent, breaks the traditional view that reputation always has a positive impact on employees.

Key words: reputation for helping others, moral awareness, psychological entitlement, unethical behavior

Lu Junting, Liu Chang, Chen Chang. Enhance Moral Awareness or Produce Moral Licensing? A Research on the Double-edge Effects of Reputation for Helping Others[J]. Management Review, 2023, 35(10): 228-236.

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