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Justifying Deviant Behavior: The Role of Attributions and Moral Emotions

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Abstract

We present two studies investigating the impact of causal perceptions and the moral emotions of anger, shame, and guilt on the justification of deviant workplace behavior. Study 1 tests our conceptual framework using a sample of undergraduate business students; Study 2 examines a population of practicing physicians. Results varied significantly between the two samples, suggesting that individual and contextual factors play an important role in shaping the perceptual and emotional processes by which individuals form reactions to undesirable affective workplace events. Implications of these findings for the study of ethics, emotions, and attributions, as well as for promoting ethical behavior, are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA

    Paul Harvey

  2. School of Business and Industry, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Mark J. Martinko

  3. School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Nancy Borkowski

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  1. Paul Harvey
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  2. Mark J. Martinko
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Correspondence to Paul Harvey.

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Harvey, P., Martinko, M.J. & Borkowski, N. Justifying Deviant Behavior: The Role of Attributions and Moral Emotions. J Bus Ethics 141, 779–795 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3046-5

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