What Causes Unethical Behavior? A Meta‐Analysis to Set an Agenda for Public Administration Research

Abstract

This article uses meta‐analysis to synthesize 137 experiments in 73 articles on the causes of unethical behavior. Results show that exposure to in‐group members who misbehave or to others who benefit from unethical actions, greed, egocentrism, self‐justification, exposure to incremental dishonesty, loss aversion, challenging performance goals, or time pressure increase unethical behavior. In contrast, monitoring of employees, moral reminders, and individuals’ willingness to maintain a positive self‐view decrease unethical conduct. Findings on the effect of self‐control depletion on unethical behavior are mixed. Results also present subgroup analyses and several measures of study heterogeneity and likelihood of publication bias. The implications are of interest to both scholars and practitioners. The article concludes by discussing which of the factors analyzed should gain prominence in public administration research and uncovering several unexplored causes of unethical behavior.

Behavioral Public Administration ad fontes: A Synthesis of Research on Bounded Rationality, Cognitive Biases, and Nudging in Public Organizations

“…Lastly, we fully acknowledge that our research synthesis is not immune to the same limitations that impinge on any effort to systematically review available evidence on a topic of interest (e.g., Bellé and Cantarelli ; Cantarelli, Belardinelli, and Bellé ; Gerrish ; Ritz, Brewer, and Neumann ). Those limitations should be taken into full account when considering the findings and the implications of our work.…”

Explaining Self‐Interested Behavior of Public‐Spirited Policy Makers

“…This subsection presents the main insights of BE, with particular emphasis on those with direct bearing on governmental decision making. (For overviews of BE, see Bazerman and Gino ; Bazerman and Tenbrunsel ; Bellé and Cantarelli ; Bereby‐Meyer and Shalvi ; Feldman ; Kish‐Gephart, Harrison, and Treviño .) It should be stressed at the outset that BE does not offer a simple and coherent theory of human behavior of the sort put forward by standard economic analysis.…”

“…A meta‐analysis in the context of organizations found a weak positive correlation between an egoistic work environment and unethical behavior and moderate negative correlations between benevolent and principled ethical climates and unethical choices (Kish‐Gephart, Harrison, and Treviño ). In a recent meta‐analysis, Bellé and Cantarelli () found that social influences such as exposure to unethical behavior by in‐group members or interdependence with other individuals benefiting from one's unethical actions increase unethical behavior. A robust negative correlation was found between an ethical culture—including high ethical standards set by managers and the disciplinary enforcement of an existing code of conduct—and unethical conduct.…”

Evidence gap map of performance measurement and management in primary care delivery systems in low- and middle-income countries – Study protocol

“…There is evidence, also, of the generation of unintended effects in the public and private sectors 22 26 29 .…”