Cut You Some Slack? An Investigation of the Perceptions of a Depleted Employee’s Unethicality

Yajun Zhang (), Kai Chi Yam (), Maryam Kouchaki () and Junwei Zhang ()
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Yajun Zhang: Guizhou University of Finance and Economics
Kai Chi Yam: National University of Singapore
Maryam Kouchaki: Northwestern University
Junwei Zhang: Huazhong Agricultural University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2019, vol. 157, issue 3, No 6, 673-683

Abstract: Abstract Whereas previous research on ego depletion and ethics suggests that employees who are depleted of their self-control resources are more likely to engage in unethical behavior, our current research focuses on how observers perceive and react to depleted employees’ unethical behavior. Integrating ego depletion and attribution theories, we hypothesize and find that observers judge depleted employees’ unethical behavior more leniently than non-depleted employees as a result of lower levels of perceived intentionality. These perceptions in turn lead to lower levels of punishment. Results further suggest that not all types of depletion lead to the same effects on observers’ lenient moral judgments—depletion due to externally imposed reasons are more likely to result in lenient moral judgment, compared to depletion due to internally imposed reasons.

Keywords: Ego depletion; Ethical decision making; Perceptions of unethicality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-017-3690-4

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