Motivated to disengage: The ethical consequences of goal commitment and moral disengagement in goal setting

Abstract

Summary A growing literature has suggested that high performance goals can have unintended consequences within organizations as employees engage in unethical behavior to achieve outcomes associated with goal attainment. Extending research on the dark side of goal setting, we suggest that high performance goals not only create a desire to achieve a particular outcome but also alter moral reasoning processes related to goal attainment. Integrating goal‐setting theory with motivated moral reasoning, we hypothesize an indirect effect of high performance goals on unethical behavior via state moral disengagement. We also examine goal commitment—which tends to amplify the relationship between high goals and performance—as a key boundary condition associated with this indirect effect. We build this conditional indirect effect model across three studies conducted in the field and the laboratory. Our results provide new insight into both when and why high goals can facilitate moral disengagement and unethical behavior within organizations.

Antecedents of Commitment to Budgetary Goals

“…The authors point out that participation in the budget is a means of assessing the achievement of the organizational goals of each manager, and greater employee involvement in the process of preparing the budget will encourage their motivation to successfully complete the task, obtain rewards, have more responsibility at work, and avoid job dissatisfaction (intrinsic elements). It is known that intrinsic motivation is difficult to activate (Van der Kolk et al, 2019), that the commitment to goals represents a desirable result (Welsh et al, 2020), and that budget participation configures an important antecedent variable in addressing the cognitive process related to employee and managerial performance.…”

“…According to Welsh, Baer, Sessions and Garud (2020), individuals committed to a goal tend to be, in general, motivated to avoid failure to achieve the goal. This is because the expected outcomes, resulting from the establishment of goals, occur through cognitive processes.…”

“…This is because the expected outcomes, resulting from the establishment of goals, occur through cognitive processes. This factor demonstrates the approach to cognitive processes that motivate behavior (Welsh, Baer, Sessions, & Garud, 2020) and seek to identify which factors influence the commitment to goals, since these factors may have critical implications in their definitions (Hassel & Cunningham, 1993).…”

Power Analysis for Conditional Indirect Effects: A Tutorial for Conducting Monte Carlo Simulations with Categorical Exogenous Variables

“…Conditional indirect effect models are also often tested empirically, for instance, Shoss et al (2013) tested propositions extrapolated from organizational support theory, finding the indirect effect of abusive supervision on three outcomes-organization-directed counterproductive work behavior, in-role performance, and extra-role performance-through perceived organizational support to vary as a function of supervisor's organizational embodiment. More recently, Welsh et al (2020) investigated adverse consequences of goal setting theory by testing a moderated mediation hypothesis with dichotomous exogenous variables. Welsh et.…”

Antecedentes do Compromisso com as Metas Orçamentárias

“…Isso ocorre porque os resultados esperados, decorrentes do estabelecimento de metas, ocorrem por meio de processos cognitivos. Esse fator demonstra a relevância da abordagem dos processos cognitivos que motivam o comportamento (Welsh, Baer, Sessions, & Garud, 2020) e que buscam identificar quais fatores influenciam o compromisso com as metas, visto que esses fatores podem ter implicações críticas em suas definições (Hassel & Cunningham, 1993).…”