Good guys with good apples. The moderating role of moral competence on the association between moral disengagement and organizational behaviours

Objective

Consistently with Bandura's theory of moral disengagement, we examined if moral disengagement predicted employees’ counterproductive work behaviours and organizational citizenship behaviours, also assessing moral competence as a moderator that, at higher values, could mitigate the positive association with counterproductive work behaviours and mitigate the negative association with organizational citizenship behaviours.

Method

Five hundred eighty-three Italian employees completed a time-lagged online survey including the following measures: Work Moral Disengagement Scale (Fida, Paciello et al., 2015), Moral Competence Test (Lind, 1985), Counterproductive Work Behavior Checklist (Spector et al., 2006), Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale (Podsakoff et al., 1990). Associations between variables were examined via multiple linear regressions with bootstrapping, while the interactions were probed through the Johnson-Neyman technique.

Results

Moral disengagement is positively related to counterproductive work behaviours and negatively related to organizational citizenship behaviours. Furthermore, the association between moral disengagement and counterproductive work behaviours is moderated by moral competence, with a significant positive association only at lower levels of the moderator.

Conclusion

We demonstrated for the first time the potentially significant role played by moral competence as a moderator that could reduce the negative effects of moral disengagement on deviant and unethical organizational behaviours, discussing our results in light of available evidence and theory, and elaborating on practical implications.