The Effect of Supervisor Identification on Unethical Pro-Supervisor Behavior: The Moderating Role of Employability Perceptions

Under some employment circumstances, individuals in some organizations are willing to engage in unethical behaviors that benefit one’s own supervisors who have a great power to decide the levels of evaluation and compensation for each individual. In this study two hypotheses were examined. First, based on social identification theory, we hypothesized that individuals’ feeling a sense of oneness with one’s own supervisors promote unethical pro-supervisor behaviors (UPSB). Second, based on a person-situation interactionist model, we hypothesized that this positive relationship is strengthen if the individual perceives lower levels of one’s own employability. Data were collected from 185 individuals of various types of organizations in South Korea. A time-lagged field study supported our hypotheses. In particular, supervisor identification was positively related to UPSB. Further, for individuals with a weaker employability perception, supervisor identification was positively related to UPSB.