Thick as Thieves: The Effects of Ethical Orientation and Psychological Safety on Unethical Team Behavior

• Published in: Journal of applied psychology 2011-03, Vol.96 (2), p.401-411
• Main Authors: Pearsall, Matthew J, Ellis, Aleksander P. J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Behavior; Behavioural psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Business Education; Business ethics; Cheating; Collective action; Cooperative Behavior; Decision analysis; Decision Making; Decision Making - ethics; Ethical Theory; Ethics; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gender Differences; Grades (Scholastic); Group Behavior; Group Dynamics; Group Processes; Human; Humans; Hypothesis Testing; Male; Mental Health; Moderated; Occupational psychology; Organizational behavior; Organizational behaviour; Psychological Patterns; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Questionnaires; Safety; Social Behavior; Students - psychology; Studies; Surveys; Teams; Teamwork; Theft - ethics; Theft - psychology; Undergraduate Students; Utilitarianism; Work condition. Job performance. Stress; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0021-9010; 1939-1854
• DOI: 10.1037/a0021503

The purpose of this study was to uncover compositional and emergent influences on unethical behavior by teams. Results from 126 teams indicated that the presence of a formalistic orientation within the team was negatively related to collective unethical decisions. Conversely, the presence of a utilitarian orientation within the team was positively related to both unethical decisions and behaviors. Results also indicated that the relationship between utilitarianism and unethical outcomes was moderated by the level of psychological safety within the team, such that teams with high levels of safety were more likely to engage in unethical behaviors. Implications are discussed, as well as potential directions for future research. (Contains 2 tables, 2 figures and 2 footnotes.)