Intention to whistleblow: Perception of reporting skill mediates the predicting role of class consciousness and perceived probability of revenge

Abstract

Background A number of corruption cases would never have been revealed without the role of the whistleblower. Whistleblowers - as people who know about corruption incidents in their environment - are social capital in preventing and eradicating corruption. For this reason, it is urgent to know the configuration of psychological predictors of a person’s intention to carry out whistleblowing. Methods Predictive correlational design with a mediation analysis was used in this study. The participants of this study were 374 Indonesians (187 males, 187 females; M age = 25.61 years old; SD age = 6.78 years). Results The results showed that perception of reporting skill can mediate the predicting relationship between class consciousness, perceived probability of revenge, and intention to blow the whistle. Conclusions Class consciousness and perceived probability of retaliation might encourage someone to feel competent to blow the whistle - or improve their reporting skill - to carry out whistleblowing.