Moral Disengagement at Work: A Review and Research Agenda

Alexander Newman, Huong Le (huong.le@deakin.edu.au), Andrea North-Samardzic and Michael Cohen
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Huong Le: Deakin University
Andrea North-Samardzic: Deakin University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2020, vol. 167, issue 3, No 10, 535-570

Abstract: Abstract Originally conceptualized by Bandura (Person Soc Psychol Rev 3:193–209, 1999) as the process of cognitive restructuring that allows individuals to disassociate with their internal moral standards and behave unethically without feeling distress, moral disengagement has attracted the attention of management researchers in recent years. An increasing body of research has examined the factors which lead people to morally disengage and its related outcomes in the workplace. However, the conceptualization of moral disengagement, how it should be measured, the manner in which it develops, and its influence on work outcomes are areas of continued debate among researchers. In this article, we undertake a systematic review of research on moral disengagement in the workplace and develop a comprehensive research agenda that highlights opportunities for theoretical and empirical advancement of the literature.

Keywords: Moral disengagement; Situational strength theory; Social cognitive theory; Trait activation theory; Role theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-019-04173-0

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