Outline

  • Abstract
  • Keywords
  • 1. Introduction
  • 1.1. Theoretical Framework
  • 1.2. External Loc and Ethical Work Intentions
  • 1.3. Relativistic Beliefs and Ethical Work Intentions
  • 1.4. Mach and Ethical Work Intentions
  • 2. Material and Methods
  • 2.1. Sample and Procedure
  • 2.2. Measures
  • 2.3. Data Analysis
  • 3. Results
  • 3.1. Common Method Bias
  • 3.2. Measurement Model
  • 3.3. Hypothesis Tests
  • 4. Discussion and Conclusions
  • 4.1. Theoretical Contributions
  • 4.2. Practical Implications
  • 4.3. Limitations and Further Research Directions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Appendix. Measures
  • References

رئوس مطالب

  • چکیده
  • کلید واژه ها
  • مقدمه
  • 1.1. چارچوب نظری
  • 1.2. LOC خارجی و نیات کار اخلاقی
  • 1.3. اعتقادات نسبی گرایانه و نیات کار اخلاقی
  • 1.4. ماکیاولی و نیات کار اخلاقی
  • 2. مواد و روش ها
  • 2.1. نمونه و روش
  • 2.2. اندازه گیری ها
  • 2.3. تحلیل داده
  • 3. نتایج
  • 3.1. روش متداول تعصب
  • 3.2. مدل اندازه گیری
  • 3.3. آزمایش فرضیه
  • 4. بحث و نتیجه
  • 4.1. مشارکت نظری
  • 4.2. مفهوم عملی
  • 4.3. محدودیت ها و مسیرهای تحقیق بیشتر
  • ضمیمه: معیارها

Abstract

Self-interested moves, such as manipulation and deception in interpersonal relationships with parties inside and outside the workplace, constitute a serious concern for management. Machiavellianism is often directly blamed for such ethical failures, but more generic individual differences, such as those linked to the use of chameleon-like approaches to match an immediate cultural or social environment (i.e., external locus of control, relativistic beliefs), may have indirect influences. Because these chameleon-inducing personalities may foster self-interested decisions, by prompting the abandonment of strict moral codes, this study investigates Machiavellianism as a potential mechanism by which these personalities relate negatively to ethical work intentions. The results, obtained with a sample of 436 banking employees from Spain, reveal that external locus of control and relativistic beliefs relate positively to Machiavellianism, and that Machiavellianism mediates the negative influence of chameleon-inducing personalities on ethical work intentions. The study thus provides novel information for managers interested in reducing employees’ Machiavellian tendencies and offers appropriate strategies for deterring their unethical work behaviors.

Keywords: - - - -

Discussion and conclusions

Great emphasis has been placed on the need to better understand Mach (Liu, 2008) and clarify the drivers that link Mach, external LOC, and relativistic beliefs to ethical decision making (Kish-Gephart et al., 2010), yet scant research has responded to these calls. Although considerable research has analyzed the influence of multiple psychological variables on ethical choices (Beu et al., 2003; Kish-Gephart et al., 2010), few studies have sought to explain the mechanisms by which this influence functions. To fill this gap, this study provides an in-depth analysis of the relationships of external LOC and relativistic beliefs with Mach and thereby makes two important contributions to considerations of unethical work intentions that arise in interpersonal workplace relationships.

First, consistent with prior literature (Kish-Gephart et al., 2010), we show that personal variables, such as relativistic beliefs and Mach, have strong negative influences on ethical work intentions. In other words, when employees conceive of ethics as dependent on the situation or believe the use of any means (i.e., manipulation, deceit) is acceptable to attain personal self-interests, it has negative influences on their ethical work intentions. Although external LOC traditionally has been classified as a negative influence too (KishGephart et al., 2010), our results reveal no such direct influence (see also Forte, 2004). Rather, we demonstrate that the influence of an external LOC (i.e., belief that the results of an action do not depend entirely on one’s own behavior) moves indirectly through other, more overwhelming psychological variables, including Mach.

Second, we show that Mach intervenes in the relationships between various psychological variables (i.e., external LOC, relativistic beliefs) and ethical work intentions, which helps clarify the mechanism by which these personalities relate negatively to ethical work intentions. That is, our results reveal that Mach mediates the external LOCeethical work intentions and relativistic beliefseethical work intentions relationships, indicating that these personal features do not negatively influence ethical work intentions alone. Rather, their influence primarily moves through Mach, which may explain why some research has failed to find any negative relationship of external LOC or relativistic beliefs with ethical decision making (e.g., Forte, 2004; Marta et al., 2008).

In terms of a better understanding of how ethical intentions arise in the workplace, our findings show that among the personal characteristics studied here, Mach exerts the dominant negative influence. Both external LOC and relativistic beliefs emerge as important positive correlates of Mach, which itself is a reason that the former personalities fuel unethical work intentions among employees (lying, deceiving, defaming). The mechanisms that underlie this mediated relationship appear connected to employees’ higher use, when they have an external LOC and relativistic beliefs, of chameleon-like approaches to match their immediate cultural and social environments. By adopting these chameleon-like approaches, employees with these personalities become more tempted to abandon any strict moral values and adhere instead to whatever standard that seems most suitable in each situation, so as not to appear dissonant. This logicd“to appear perfect” rather than “to strive to be perfect”dmakes it easier for employees to use selfinterested psycho-cognitive schemas unconsciously, such that if required, they are willing to manipulate, deceive, or exploit others to meet their own self-interests (i.e., Mach).

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