The Impact of Predisposed Traits and Organizational Factors on the U.S. Federal Employee Perception of Whistleblowing

Abstract

Whistleblowers play a critical role in revealing organizational wrongdoing. Even after the passage of the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act and the 2012 Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, numerous studies find that public employees are still reluctant to report wrongdoing due to various forms of retaliation. Drawing on insights from a framework of predisposition and environmental perspectives, this study examines which type of factors—predisposed characteristics or organizational/environmental factors—are more influential and consistent in increasing the favorable perception of public employees about whistleblowing. To test the model, this study uses multiple waves of data including the 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 Federal Employee Viewpoint Surveys to perform agency-level analyses. The findings suggest that organizational/environmental factors increase favorable federal employee perception of whistleblowing over time while predisposed characteristics show inconsistent influence.