Hierarchical rank and principled dissent: How holding higher rank suppresses objection to unethical practices

• Published in: Organizational behavior and human decision processes 2017-03, Vol.139, p.30-49
• Main Authors: Kennedy, Jessica A., Anderson, Cameron
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ethics; Hierarchy; Identification; Power; Principled dissent; Status
• ISSN: 0749-5978; 1095-9920
• DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.01.002

•We investigate the relationship between hierarchical rank and principled dissent.•Holding a higher-ranking position reduces principled dissent.•Holding higher rank increases identification with the group.•Holding higher rank leads people to view their group’s practices as more ethical.•Changes in identification and ethical views jointly help to explain the effect. When unethical practices occur in an organization, high-ranking individuals at the top of the hierarchy are expected to stop wrongdoing and redirect the organization to a more honorable path—this is, to engage in principled dissent. However, in three studies, we find that holding high-ranking positions makes people less likely to engage in principled dissent. Specifically, we find that high-ranking individuals identify more strongly with their organization or group, and therefore see its unethical practices as more ethical than do low-ranking individuals. High-ranking individuals thus engage less in principled dissent because they fail to see unethical practices as being wrong in the first place. Study 1 observed the relation between high-rank and principled dissent in an archival data set involving more than 11,000 employees. Studies 2 and 3 used experimental designs to establish the causal effect of rank and to show that identification is one key mechanism underlying it.