Why narcissistic individuals engage in unethical pro-organizational behavior. Testing a moderated mediation model

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the current research is to study the relationship between narcissism and unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), and also examine whether status striving mediates the relationship between narcissism and UPB among individuals with high organizational identification.Design/methodology/approachData that was used to test the research model were collected from five companies in the trading sector in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The final sample included 200 responses, among all participants 29.5% were in a leadership position.FindingsThe current research found that narcissism leads individuals to exhibit a willingness to engage in UPB. Furthermore, status striving mediates the relationship between narcissism and UPB among individuals with high organizational identification.Research limitations/implicationsResearch did not use actual reported UPB but measured employees' willingness to engage in UPB.Practical implicationsOrganizations should develop special ethics guidance to change the employee's perceptions of UPB from the act of helping or protecting the organization to undesirable behavior in the organization. Moreover, the organization may develop an ethical counseling program, by which individuals may perceive that ethical behavior is valuable for the organization.Originality/valueCurrent study examines the relationship between narcissism and UPB. Moreover, it provides empirical support for the notion that the relationship between narcissism and UPB is mediated by status striving among individuals with high organizational identification.

Determinants of Unethical Pro-Organizational Behaviors

“…Diğerlerinden çok daha fazlasını hakkettiklerine inanan bu bireyler, genel olarak narsist kişiliğe sahip olanlarla sıklıkla karıştırılmaktadır. Gerekçesiz olsa dahi "benim gibi kişiler ekstra bir şansı hak ederler" (Aksoy Kürü, 2022b) öngörüsüyle hareket ettikleri ve temelde yanlış ve kabul edilemeyecek sonuçları da ortaya çıkaracakları öngörülmektedir (Toirova ve Baek, 2021). Naseer ve meslektaşlarının (2020) çalışmasında öne sürüldüğü üzere örgütle yaşanan özdeşleşmenin çalışanlarda psikolojik ayrıcalığı doğuracağı sonucuna ulaşılırken; Klimchak ve arkadaşlarının (2016) araştırmasında da bu görüşün aksini destekler nitelikte bir sonuca; çalışanların psikolojik ayrıcalığının proaktif çalışma davranışlarına düşük seviyede etki ettiğini ve bu etkide örgütsel özdeşleşmenin düzenleyici bir mekanizmaya sahip olduğunu göstermektedir.…”

The damage of deference: how personal and organizational factors transform deference to leader authority into unethical pro-organizational behavior

“…According to COR theory, a motivation to leverage discretionary energy into dedicated work activities is driven by desires to conserve pertinent resources, accumulated over time (Hobfoll, 2001); such resources might include the prestige they have built among organizational authorities (Klotz et al , 2018). A propensity to channel their deference to leader authority into ethically controversial behaviors accordingly should be higher if those activities help employees confirm their image, rather than risk losing it if they were to decide not to help their organization in this way (Toirova and Baek, 2021; Wang et al , 2019). Workplace status then would reinforce employees’ motivation to channel their discretionary energy into activities that reinforce their current organizational standing (Mishra et al , 2022).…”

“…Employees’ personal preferences or characteristics, such as their Machiavellianism (Castille et al , 2018), narcissism (Toirova and Baek, 2021), psychological entitlement (Lee et al , 2019) or lack of mindfulness (Wan et al , 2020), likely influence whether they undertake such unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). A parallel stream of research also notes how employees’ identification with their immediate supervisor (Johnson and Umphress, 2019) or the supervisor’s leadership style (Dennerlein and Kirkman, 2022) can steer them toward such behavior.…”