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Peer reporting of unethical behavior: The influence of justice evaluations and social context factors

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Abstract

This field survey in a fast food restaurant setting tested the hypothesized influences of two social context variables (role responsibility and interests of group members) and justice evaluations (distributive, procedural, and retributive) on respondents' inclination to report theft and their theft reporting behavior. The results provided mixed support for the hypotheses. Inclination to report a peer for theft was associated with role responsibility, the interests of group members, and procedural justice perceptions. Actual reporting behavior was associated with the inclination to report and with retributive justice evaluations. Implications for future research and for management are discussed.

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Bart Victor is Associate Professor of Management in the Kenan Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned his Ph.D. in management. His research interests have focused on culture and climates in organizations and problems in organizational design.

Linda Klebe Trevino is Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Mary Jean and Frank B. Smeal College of Business Administration, The Pennsylvania State University. She received her Ph.D. in management. Her research focuses on the management of ethical-unethical behavior in organizations and justice in disciplinary situations.

Debra L. Shapiro is Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Kenan Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research regards managing conflict in organizations, via procedural justice, interactional justice, negotiation tactics, and grievance procedures.

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Victor, B., Trevino, L.K. & Shapiro, D.L. Peer reporting of unethical behavior: The influence of justice evaluations and social context factors. J Bus Ethics 12, 253–263 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01666528

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