Helping the organization but hurting yourself: How employees’ unethical pro-organizational behavior predicts work-to-life conflict

Xin Lucy Liu, Jackson G. Lu, Hongyu Zhang and Yahua Cai

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2021, vol. 167, issue C, 88-100

Abstract: Integrating paradox theory with work-life boundary theory, we examine how employees’ unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) increases work-to-life conflict. Based on the morally paradoxical nature of UPB (unethical yet pro-organizational), we propose that UPB triggers emotional ambivalence by simultaneously inducing guilt (negative moral emotion) and pride (positive moral emotion). This emotional ambivalence produces a state of anxiety, which in turn increases employees’ work-to-life conflict. Our theoretical perspective (UPB → emotional ambivalence [guilt & pride] → state anxiety → work-to-life conflict) was supported by an experience sampling study of hairstylists (Study 1), a vignette experiment of accountants (Study 2), and an experience sampling study of employee-partner pairs (Study 3). In sum, our research demonstrates that unethical behavior intended to benefit the organization may paradoxically hurt employees themselves.

Keywords: Unethical pro-organizational behavior; Ethics; Emotion; Emotional ambivalence; Anxiety; Work-life conflict; Boundary theory; Paradox theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597821000601
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:167:y:2021:i:c:p:88-100

DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.05.002

Access Statistics for this article

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes is currently edited by John M. Schaubroeck

More articles in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().