License for Wrongdoing: Why better relationships with leaders lead to employee unethical behavior

Yujie Shi, Jih-Yu Mao, Li Guo, Xinyan Mu, Wenxing Liu and Weiqun He

Journal of Business Research, 2024, vol. 172, issue C

Abstract: Relative leader-member exchange (RLMX) refers to one’s leader-member exchange (LMX) relative to the average LMX within the team. Higher RLMX indicates a better-than-average relationship quality with the leader. Drawing on social comparison theory and the literature on psychological licensing, we suggest that higher RLMX is likely to facilitate employee psychological entitlement, leading to engagement in unethical behavior. In addition, the indirect relationship is more salient in teams with a higher political climate. The results of a scenario experiment and a multi-wave, multi-source survey provide support for the hypotheses. Implications for research, practice, and future research are discussed.

Keywords: Relative leader-member exchange (RLMX); Psychological entitlement; Unethical behavior; Team political climate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:172:y:2024:i:c:s0148296323008275

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114468

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