Understanding the Paradox of Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: Development and Validation of a New Vignette Measure

The paradoxical state of being loyal to an organization while behaving ethically creates a moral dilemma known as unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). No previous studies have explicitly detected the paradoxical nature of UPB with rigorous psychometric pretests. To address this gap, this study developed and validated a new UPB vignette measure following Hinkin’s three-stage organizational measure development guidelines. In the vignette development and content validation stage, we created and validated seven UPB vignettes among working employees (Study 1a, N=145) and subject-matter experts (Study 1b, N=39), especially focusing on whether the vignettes evoke paradoxical feelings related to the conflict between organizational loyalty and unethical doing. In the psychometric testing stage, we assessed reliability (Study 2a, N=305; Study 2b, N=208), structural validity (Studies 2a, 2b, and 2c), and convergent and discriminant validity (Study 2c, N=835). In the nomological testing stage, employees’ UPB choice in the new vignette measure was well predicted by their organizational identity, ethical leadership, moral disengagement, and perceived organizational support (Study 3, N=977). This new UPB vignette measure depicts the paradoxical nature of UPB and paves the way for exploring UPB as a moral dilemma in the workplace. With this new measure, future studies can further examine UPB from a dilemma perspective and gain deeper insights into the UPB decision-making process.