Moral smog effect: Perceived environmental threat increases individuals’ acceptance of unethical behavior

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Key Points

This research examines how perceived environmental threats influence the acceptance of unethical behavior and the mediating role of psychological stress.
Utilized data from the Comprehensive Chinese Social Survey and World Values Survey across multiple studies (N=249, 1965, 1053, 497, 482).
Employs experimental paradigms to establish causality and test psychological stress as a mediator.
Conducted manipulations of perceived environmental threat and stress levels to directly assess their effects.
Increased perception of environmental threat was shown to positively predict acceptance of unethical behavior (N=1965, p<0.01).
Stress was identified as a partial mediator in the relationship between environmental threat and unethical behavior acceptance (N=249).
Findings indicated that acceptance of unethical behavior occurs regardless of who performs it (N=482), suggesting the pervasive influence of environmental perception.

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Reveals that perceived environmental threat increases unethical behavior acceptance, indicating a need for moral awareness.

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Chen et al. (2026) studied this question.

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