The Emotion-Evoked Collective Corruption Model: The Role of Emotion in the Spread of Corruption Within Organizations

Kristin Smith-Crowe () and Danielle E. Warren ()
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Kristin Smith-Crowe: Management Department, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
Danielle E. Warren: Management and Global Business, Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick, Newark, New Jersey 07102

Organization Science, 2014, vol. 25, issue 4, 1154-1171

Abstract: We draw from research on emotions and moral reasoning to develop a process model of collective corruption that centers on the role of moral emotions in the spread of corruption within organizations. Our focus on a well-intentioned and deliberative path to corruption is a departure from previous theory, which has focused on mindless and ill-intentioned paths. In our model, moral emotions play a critical role in both the initial recruitment of a target individual (the direct process), as well as the spread of corruption to a broader group of nontargeted individuals through emotional contagion (the vicarious process). For both processes we explain how self-directed moral emotions (guilt, shame, embarrassment, and pride) facilitate the spread of corruption and how other-directed moral emotions (anger and contempt) do not. We conclude by discussing the implications of our theory and directions for future research.

Keywords: moral emotions; collective corruption; emotional contagion; affective residue; conformity; shame; embarrassment; guilt; anger; contempt; pride (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:25:y:2014:i:4:p:1154-1171

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