From Deviant to Harmful Competitive Behavior: The Role of Guilt, Psychological Power, and Moral Identity

Abstract

Past research on deviant behavior has primarily focused on what can predict its occurrence within an organization, its effects on others, and how it influences the actors’ subsequent emotions. However, there is still limited knowledge of the intrapersonal reactions individuals experience after they engage in deviant behavior, especially on how these reactions can lead to other harmful behaviors at work. Using the existing knowledge on deviant behavior and its outcomes, I hypothesized that individuals who engage in deviant behavior subsequently experience an increase in either guilt or psychological power. Furthermore, I predicted that these intrapersonal reactions influence future interpersonally harmful competitive behaviors. Finally, I hypothesized that the level of guilt or psychological power individuals experience after engaging in deviant behavior is moderated by moral identity. I tested these hypotheses in two studies. The first study was a three-wave field study where employees self-reported their engagement in deviant and competitive behavior and completed measurements of guilt, psychological power, and moral identity. The second study was a two-wave online experiment where I gave participants the opportunity to engage in deviant behavior, manipulated moral identity activation, and then measured the outcome variables. The results from these two studies did not support my hypothesized model. I conclude by discussing possible explanations for these results, limitations, and directions for subsequent research.