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To Help My Supervisor: Identification, Moral Identity, and Unethical Pro-supervisor Behavior

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Abstract

Under some circumstances, individuals are willing to engage in unethical behaviors that benefit another entity. In this research we advance the unethical pro-organizational behavior construct by showing that individuals also have the potential to behave unethically to benefit their supervisors. Previous research has not examined if employees engage in unethical acts to benefit an entity that is separate from oneself and if they will conduct these acts to benefit a supervisor. Our research helps to address these gaps. We also demonstrate that unethical behavior to benefit a supervisor, what we term unethical pro-supervisor behavior, is more likely to occur if individuals are more (versus less) identified with their organization or supervisor. That is, feeling a sense of oneness with one’s organization or supervisor can result in employees engaging in unethical behavior to help their supervisor. Further, this positive relationship is weakened if the employee possesses higher levels of moral identity. We test our hypotheses with a two-part laboratory study, a field study, and a time-lagged field study. Theoretical and practical implications of this work are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Marie Mitchell for helpful feedback on this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business and Economics, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive, MS3161, Moscow, ID, 83844-3161, USA

    Hana Huang Johnson

  2. Foster School of Business, University of Washington, 587 PACCAR Hall, Box 353226, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Elizabeth E. Umphress

Authors
  1. Hana Huang Johnson
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  2. Elizabeth E. Umphress
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hana Huang Johnson.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Hana Huang Johnson declares that she has no conflict of interest. Elizabeth E. Umphress declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Appendix

Appendix

Studies 1–3: Unethical Pro-supervisor Behavior

Study 1

Participants evaluated the facilitator on the following items. The facilitator did not conduct the behaviors in bold, so favorable evaluations of these items were considered lying to help the supervisor. Please note that the bold emphasis was not included in the survey viewed by the participant (7 points; strongly disagree to strongly agree).

  1. 1.

    The facilitator checked my name on her list when I arrived.

  2. 2.

    The facilitator provided my ID number to me on a post-it note.

  3. 3.

    The facilitator gave me a copy of the consent form so I could keep it.

  4. 4.

    The facilitator asked me questions about my previous experience participating in lab studies.

  5. 5.

    The facilitator read the consent form out loud to me.

  6. 6.

    The facilitator spoke to me about the alternative task before beginning the study.

  7. 7.

    The facilitator gave an opening introduction about the study before escorting us into the lab.

  8. 8.

    The facilitator had the survey pulled up on the computer for me so when I sat down I could begin right away.

  9. 9.

    The facilitator provided a pen at my desk to use during the experiment.

  10. 10.

    The facilitator verbally explained to me how to do a spatial reasoning question.

Studies 2 and 3

(1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3 = once in a while, 4 = often, 5 = always)

  1. 1.

    Because it was needed, I have concealed information from others that could be damaging to my supervisor.

  2. 2.

    Because my supervisor needed me to, I have not revealed to others a mistake he/she made that would damage his/her reputation.

  3. 3.

    Because it helped my supervisor, I have exaggerated the truth about my supervisor’s performance to others.

  4. 4.

    Because it benefited my supervisor, I have withheld negative information about my supervisor’s performance from others.

  5. 5.

    Because it helped my supervisor, I have misrepresented the truth to make my supervisor look good.

  6. 6.

    Because my supervisor needed me to, I spoke poorly of another individual who was a problem for my supervisor.

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Johnson, H.H., Umphress, E.E. To Help My Supervisor: Identification, Moral Identity, and Unethical Pro-supervisor Behavior. J Bus Ethics 159, 519–534 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3836-z

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