Moral Categorization of Opportunists in Cross-Border Interfirm Relationships

This study draws on theory of dyadic morality and categorization to disentangle opportunistic behaviors from the perception by their victim that leads to the moral categorization of the perpetrator as an opportunist. We show that it is this moral categorization, not the behaviors, that determines the trust beliefs of the victim. Further, the effect of psychic distance on the process of perpetrator moral categorization as an opportunist depends on the form of opportunistic behaviors. Finally, this study questions the cultural universality of opportunism by showing that effects of opportunistic behaviors on categorization vary across national cultures—based on data sets of French and Slovene exporters.