Dissociating the Ethical/unethical, Pro/anti-organizational Sensitivities and Overall Action/inaction Preference of Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior

Previous studies have highlighted the dilemmatic nature of UPB, characterized by paradoxical emotional responses and behavioral patterns. Underlying the paradox of UPB, there are three different psychological processes, Ethical/unethical sensitivity (E parameter), Pro-/anti-organizational sensitivity (P parameter) and overall Action/inaction preference (A parameter). A typical UPB can be attributed to lower E, higher P, higher A, or any combination of these factors. However, no existing measures effectively dissociate the three psychological processes. Present work addresses this gap by developing and validating a novel measure, the EPA model by applying the methodology in moral dilemma study. The structural scenarios were constructed and validated (Study 1, n=749). Validity and reliability of the EPA model were further tested (Study 2, n=150). With applying the EPA model in a multi-wave survey (Study 3, n=1097), we found that employees with stronger tendencies toward moral decoupling, disengagement and justification are more likely to engage in UPB. It can be explained by their lower ethical sensitivity, higher pro-organizational sensitivity, and higher overall action/inaction preference. The relationships between organizational identification, social exchange, future focus and UPB remain ambiguous across multiple methodologies, warranting further investigation. Future studies can use the EPA model to clarify the three psychological processes of UPB. Theoretical and methodological implications were discussed.