Purpose

This study aims to examine the effects of peer ethical behavior and individual differences in valuation of fairness vs loyalty on whistleblowing intentions in academic settings. This study also tests the underlying mechanism responsible for the effects of peer behavior on reporting intentions, namely, fear of reprisal.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted with 947 undergraduate students. The model was tested using ordinary least squares regression models followed by bootstrapped mediation analyses.

Findings

Results showed that the effects of peer ethical behavior on whistleblowing intentions are mediated by fear of retaliation. Moreover, the findings indicated that, for low-severity transgressions, there is an interactive effect between fear of retaliation and endorsement of fairness over loyalty on whistleblowing intentions.

Research limitations/implications

When the misconduct is seen as minor, a potential whistleblower may understand that the expected costs outweigh the possible benefits of blowing the whistle. In such situations, higher fear of retaliation would undermine the effects of individual’s endorsement of fairness over loyalty on reporting intentions.

Practical implications

As the social environment significantly affects someone’s whistleblowing intentions, there should be visible efforts to improve and to foster an ethical infrastructure in organizations.

Social implications

As fear of retaliation by peers is one of the most important determinants affecting the decision to report misconduct in general, there must be serious efforts from leaders to mitigate any threat of retaliation to those who come forward.

Originality/value

This work contributes to the discussion about individual and situational antecedents of whistleblowing. More importantly, it sheds light on one potential boundary condition for the influence of the fairness–loyalty tradeoff on whistleblowing decisions: severity of the transgression. The findings provide initial evidence that, for low-severity transgressions, fear of retaliation weakens the positive effects of one’s moral compass in terms of preference for fairness over loyalty on whistleblowing intentions.

中文翻译：

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声音或沉默：举报意图的前因

目的

本研究旨在检验同伴道德行为和个体差异对公平与忠诚的评价对学术环境中的举报意图的影响。本研究还测试了导致同伴行为对报告意图影响的潜在机制，即害怕报复。

设计/方法/方法

对 947 名本科生进行了一项调查。该模型使用普通最小二乘回归模型进行测试，然后进行自举中介分析。

发现

结果表明，同伴道德行为对举报意图的影响是由对报复的恐惧介导的。此外，研究结果表明，对于低严重性的违规行为，害怕报复与支持公平而不是忠诚对举报意图之间存在交互作用。

研究限制/影响

当不当行为被视为轻微时，潜在的举报人可能会理解预期成本超过举报可能带来的好处。在这种情况下，对报复的更高恐惧会削弱个人对公平而非忠诚的认可对报告意图的影响。

实际影响

由于社会环境会显着影响某人的举报意图，因此应该采取明显的措施来改善和培养组织中的道德基础设施。

社会影响

由于害怕同行报复是影响报告一般不当行为决定的最重要决定因素之一，因此领导者必须认真努力，以减轻对站出来的人的报复威胁。

原创性/价值

这项工作有助于讨论举报的个人和情境前因。更重要的是，它揭示了公平-忠诚权衡对举报决策的影响的一个潜在边界条件：违规的严重程度。研究结果提供了初步证据，表明对于低严重性的违规行为，对报复的恐惧削弱了道德指南针在对举报意图的偏好公平而不是忠诚方面的积极影响。