Air Pollution, State Anxiety, and Unethical Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review

Lu, Jackson G.; Lee, Julia J.; Gino, Francesca; Galinsky, Adam D.

doi:10.1177/0956797620924765

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It is noteworthy that our two studies were conducted in China, where air pollution is part of everyday life and thus people are prone to perceive the same level of actual air pollution as heavier when the weather is cloudy than when it is sunny. Therefore, it is important for future research to examine whether our results are generalizable across different contexts (Lu, Lee, Gino, & Galinsky, 2020). Overall, our studies suggest that the effect of air pollution on unethical behavior may be more psychological than physiological.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polluted Psyche: Is the Effect of Air Pollution on Unethical Behavior More Physiological or Psychological?

Gong

Schaubroeck

et al. 2020

Psychol Sci

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polluted Psyche: Is the Effect of Air Pollution on Unethical Behavior More Physiological or Psychological?

Gong

Schaubroeck

et al. 2020

Psychol Sci

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Interestingly, this critical issue for organizations has arisen while significant theoretical debate is occurring about whether environmental factors can be related to unethical behavior. More precisely, Lu, Lee, et al ( 2018 ) and Lu et al ( 2020 ) recently provided evidence that air pollution (i.e., an environmental threat) is related to unethical behavior (e.g., crime) via anxiety. However, Heck et al ( 2020 ) questioned these findings and provided evidence that air pollution did not predict crime beyond seasonal trends.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How COVID‐19 can promote workplace cheating behavior via employee anxiety and self‐interest – And how prosocial messages may overcome this effect

Hillebrandt

Barclay

2022

J Organ Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary While scholars have debated whether environmental factors (e.g., air pollution) can prompt unethical behavior (e.g., crime), we argue that the COVID‐19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to inform this theoretical debate by elaborating on why these effects may occur, identifying how they can be overcome, and addressing methodological issues. Drawing on appraisal theories of emotion, we argue that appraising COVID‐19 (i.e., an environmental factor) as a threat can elicit anxiety. This can focus employees on their own self‐interest and prompt cheating behavior (i.e., unethical workplace behavior). However, we propose that these detrimental effects can be attenuated by prosocial messages (i.e., highlighting the meaningful and positive impact that employees' work can have on others). Our predictions were supported using a two‐wave survey ( N = 396) and an experiment ( N = 163) with samples of full‐time employees during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Theoretically, our studies inform this ongoing debate by highlighting the importance of state anxiety and self‐interest as key mechanisms and that drawing peoples' attention towards others can serve as a boundary condition. Practically, we provide insight into the ethical costs of COVID‐19 in the workplace and identify a simple yet effective strategy that organizations can use to curtail workplace cheating behavior.

show abstract

“…“Trait anxiety” refers to an individual's relatively stable overall disposition, which is a long‐term habitual emotional experience, whereas state anxiety is usually defined as an individual's transient emotional state, which changes over time and in response to different situations (Cattell & Scheier, 1958). Environmental problems, such as air pollution, have been found to trigger state anxiety (Lu et al., 2020). Anxious moods about the environment arise when an individual is aware of potential threats from environmental pollution, which is considered a state anxiety reaction (Gao et al., 2020).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of ambivalent attitudes on green purchase intentions: The role of negative moods

Wang

Weisstein

Duan

et al. 2021

Int J Consumer Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While negative moods (e.g., anxiety and depression) deriving from environmental problems have become a common public concern, little is known about how consumers’ negative mood states affect their green purchase intentions, especially when consumers hold ambivalent attitudes toward buying green products. This paper addresses these issues through four studies of Chinese consumers. Our findings demonstrate that highly ambivalent attitudes toward green products decrease green purchase intentions (Study 1). This negative effect is weakened when consumers are in a more (as opposed to less) anxious mood (Studies 2 and 3) but strengthened when consumers are in a more (as opposed to less) depressed mood (Study 4). Both effects are more prominent among low‐ambivalence consumers than high‐ambivalence consumers. This research shows that not all negative mood states have the same influence on consumers’ green purchase decision making.

show abstract

Air Pollution, State Anxiety, and Unethical Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review

Cited by 21 publications

References 45 publications

Polluted Psyche: Is the Effect of Air Pollution on Unethical Behavior More Physiological or Psychological?

Polluted Psyche: Is the Effect of Air Pollution on Unethical Behavior More Physiological or Psychological?

How COVID‐19 can promote workplace cheating behavior via employee anxiety and self‐interest – And how prosocial messages may overcome this effect

Impact of ambivalent attitudes on green purchase intentions: The role of negative moods

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About