Celia Moore | Imperial College London (original) (raw)

Papers by Celia Moore

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society

Moral disengagement refers to a set of eight cognitive mechanisms that decouple one's internal mo... more Moral disengagement refers to a set of eight cognitive mechanisms that decouple one's internal moral standards from one's actions, facilitating engaging in unethical behavior without feeling distress. A compelling predictor of a number of morally undesirable behaviors, including childhood aggression, workplace deviance, and misconduct in sport, this review focuses on more recent research that explores how moral disengagement operates, both as a process (mediator) and as a disposition (moderator) to affect individuals' responses to morally problematic opportunities. It also speaks to central questions in moral disengagement theory, such as its malleability over time, and interventions that can be used to reduce it.

Academy of Management Proceedings, 2017

In recent years, scholarly interest in unethical behavior in the workplace has been rapidly incre... more In recent years, scholarly interest in unethical behavior in the workplace has been rapidly increasing. Recent research in this area has highlighted that unethical behavior is routinely committed b...

Journal of Business Ethics, 2019

Academy of Management Proceedings, 2019

Journal of Business Ethics, 2018

We explore how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 created pressure for firms to take more visible and... more We explore how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 created pressure for firms to take more visible and costly corrective action following the announcement of an earnings restatement. Building on theory about focusing events, the institutional effects of legislative change, and the agendasetting role of the media, we propose that Sarbanes-Oxley created reactive normative pressure on firms that announce earnings restatements, increasing the likelihood of CEO replacement in their aftermath. We theorize that Sarbanes-Oxley changed the meaning-and therefore the impact-of media coverage of earnings restatements. Our findings show that firm behavior after Sarbanes-Oxley did change in ways that are consistent with the intent of the legislation: to increase executives' accountability for the reliability of their firms' financial statements. Moreover, we show this change is a result both of the direct effect of the legislation on increasing CEO accountability as well as through intensifying the effect of the media spotlight on misconduct.

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2019

In six studies, we show that after experiencing a threat to their abilities, individuals who misr... more In six studies, we show that after experiencing a threat to their abilities, individuals who misrepresent their performance as better than it actually is boost their feelings of competence. We situate these findings in the literature on self-protection. We show that this "counterfeit competence" effect holds when threat is measured (Study 1), manipulated (Study 2), and when the opportunity to cheat is randomly assigned (Study 3). We extend our findings to a workplace context, and show that threatened individuals who lie on a job application feel more capable than those who report them honestly (Study 4). Finally, consistent with the argument that counterfeit competence is driven by self-protection, we find individuals do not predict they would experience such a boost (Study 5), and that cheating after threat offers benefits similar to those provided by other established methods of self-protection (Study 6). Together, our findings suggest that, after threat, misrepresenting one's performance can function as a mechanism that helps to restore positive self-evaluations about one's capabilities. Buried in the story of Bernie Madoff's spectacular $65 billion Ponzi scheme lurks an interesting observation about human nature. His fraud, initiated after the stock market crash of 1987 seriously threatened his success as an investor, bolstered his sense of himself as a capable businessman. Even though manipulating one's financial reports to appear more profitable than they are seems an odd way to support a belief that one is competent, Madoff claimed that fraudulently presenting oneself as a brilliant investor ultimately "feeds your ego" (Fishman, 2011). That fraud can feed your ego is a rather counterintuitive outcome of unethical behavior. In this paper, we examine this dark consequence of the deep-seated desire to feel competent and view oneself in a positive light. Specifically, we argue that, after experiencing a threat to one's competence, misrepresenting one's performance as better than it objectively is can reaffirm one's perceptions of oneself as a competent person. This prediction counters and complicates the dominant perspective in behavioral ethics about the role of self-image in ethical behavior, which proposes that unethical behavior elicits negative perceptions of the

Journal of Applied Psychology, 2019

Research on power often treats the recipients of powerholders' decisions (i.e., subordinates) as ... more Research on power often treats the recipients of powerholders' decisions (i.e., subordinates) as an undifferentiated group, overlooking how their responses to powerholders' decisions might vary and how those responses might affect powerholders' later decisions. In this article, we examine the role of lone dissenting subordinates (individuals whose feedback differs from that expressed by other group members) in shaping powerholders' allocation decisions, and explore the consequences those subordinates face for their dissent. In 3 experimental studies, we show that even as a lone voice, the feedback of a dissenting subordinate influences powerholders' decisions. Powerholders make more self-interested allocations when a lone subordinate provides consistently positive feedback, even when others provide mostly negative feedback. However, powerholders regulate their allocations when a lone subordinate provides candid feedback that points out the self-interested nature of their allocations, even when others provide consistently positive feedback. We further show that lone dissenting subordinates' influence is stronger when they share a salient group membership with the powerholder (e.g., their school or political affiliation). Finally, we find that powerholders reward lone subordinates who provide them with positive feedback, but only punish lone candid subordinates if they do not share a salient group membership with them. Overall, our results suggest that subordinates who risk putting their head above the parapet can improve outcomes for their group members, and can avoid being punished for doing so, as long as they share a salient group membership with the powerholder.

Academy of Management Proceedings, 2012

Organizational researchers are increasingly interested in exploring what predicts and what can mi... more Organizational researchers are increasingly interested in exploring what predicts and what can mitigate unethical behavior. However, a heavy dependence on laboratory studies in this active area of ...

The Journal of applied psychology, Jan 17, 2018

There has long been interest in how leaders influence the unethical behavior of those who they le... more There has long been interest in how leaders influence the unethical behavior of those who they lead. However, research in this area has tended to focus on leaders' direct influence over subordinate behavior, such as through role modeling or eliciting positive social exchange. We extend this research by examining how ethical leaders affect how employees construe morally problematic decisions, ultimately influencing their behavior. Across four studies, diverse in methods (lab and field) and national context (the United States and China), we find that ethical leadership decreases employees' propensity to morally disengage, with ultimate effects on employees' unethical decisions and deviant behavior. Further, employee moral identity moderates this mediated effect. However, the form of this moderation is not consistent. In Studies 2 and 4, we find that ethical leaders have the largest positive influence over individuals with a weak moral identity (providing a "saving gra...

The Journal of applied psychology, Jan 22, 2017

In this paper, we explore whether individuals who strive to self-verify flourish or flounder on t... more In this paper, we explore whether individuals who strive to self-verify flourish or flounder on the job market. Using placement data from 2 very different field samples, we found that individuals rated by the organization as being in the top 10% of candidates were significantly more likely to receive a job offer if they have a stronger drive to self-verify. A third study, using a quasi-experimental design, explored the mechanism behind this effect and tested whether individuals who are high and low on this disposition communicate differently in a structured mock job interview. Text analysis (LIWC) of interview transcripts revealed systematic differences in candidates' language use as a function of their self-verification drives. These differences led an expert rater to perceive candidates with a strong drive to self-verify as less inauthentic and less misrepresentative than their low self-verifying peers, making her more likely to recommend these candidates for a job. Taken toge...

Academy of Management Journal, 2017

In this paper we theorize about illicit roles and explore their effects on resilient team perform... more In this paper we theorize about illicit roles and explore their effects on resilient team performance. We define an illicit role as one whose occupants specialize in activity forbidden by the law, regulatory bodies, or professional societies, in the belief that doing so provides a competitive advantage. Using longitudinal data on professional hockey teams, we examine the enforcer-a player who specializes in the prohibited activity of fighting. We find that team performance is more disrupted by the injury of an enforcer than by the injury of occupants of other formal roles on the team. In addition, team performance recovers more slowly after this setback to the extent the team tries to replace an enforcer, and the performance disruptions associated with his exit are magnified as a function of his experience with his team. We use these findings to develop new theory about organizational roles that operate outside official channels and formal structures. We suggest that such role occupants are more difficult to replace than their formal counterparts, in part because to enact these roles effectively requires experience in the local social context.

Organizational Wrongdoing

Social networks and organizational wrongdoing in context donald palmer and celia moore This chapt... more Social networks and organizational wrongdoing in context donald palmer and celia moore This chapter critically reviews extant social network theory and research on misconduct in and by organizations, focusing primarily on the individual level of analysis and considering the role that social networks play in the initiation, diffusion, effectiveness, and demise of wrongdoing. We conclude that a more comprehensive understanding of the role of social networks in wrongdoing in and by organizations hinges on four contextual factors: (1) the predispositions of the actors involved, (2) the nature of the wrongdoing in question, (3) the institutional environment in which the wrongdoing is perpetrated, and (4) the temporal dynamics through which the wrongdoing unfolds. We also conclude that a more nuanced understanding of the role of social networks in organizational wrongdoing requires greater attention to the quality and type of relationship that a given social tie represents, more extensive utilization of qualitative research methods, learning from emerging social network theory and research in other disciplines, particularly criminology, and further incorporation of the organizational level of analysis. We are grateful to Kristin Smith-Crowe and Christopher Yenkey for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this chapter. 203

The Journal of applied psychology, 2015

Subordinates are often seen as impotent, able to react to but not affect how powerholders treat t... more Subordinates are often seen as impotent, able to react to but not affect how powerholders treat them. Instead, we conceptualize subordinate feedback as an important trigger of powerholders' behavioral self-regulation and explore subordinates' reciprocal influence on how powerholders allocate resources to them over time. In 2 experiments using a multiparty, multiround dictator game paradigm, we found that when subordinates provided candid feedback about whether they found prior allocations to be fair or unfair, powerholders regulated how self-interested their allocations were over time. However, when subordinates provided compliant feedback about powerholders' prior allocation decisions (offered consistently positive feedback, regardless of the powerholders' prior allocation), those powerholders made increasingly self-interested allocations over time. In addition, we showed that guilt partially mediates this relationship: powerholders feel more guilty after receiving ...

Research in Organizational Behavior, 2013

This chapter focuses on the social nature of morality. Using the metaphor of the moral compass to... more This chapter focuses on the social nature of morality. Using the metaphor of the moral compass to describe individuals" inner sense of right and wrong, we offer a framework that identifies social reasons why our moral compasses can come under others" control, leading even good people to cross ethical boundaries. Departing from prior work on how individuals" cognitive limitations explain unethical behavior, we focus on socio-psychological processes that facilitate moral neglect, moral justification, and immoral action, all of which undermine moral behavior. In addition, we describe organizational factors that exacerbate the detrimental effects of each facilitator. We conclude by advising organizational scholars to take a more integrative approach to developing and evaluating theory about unethical behavior and by suggesting further study of interventions that might disempower these social triggers of unethical behavior, allowing us to regain control of our moral compasses.

Personnel Psychology, 2012

We examine the influence of individuals' propensity to morally disengage on a broad range of unet... more We examine the influence of individuals' propensity to morally disengage on a broad range of unethical organizational behaviors. First, we develop a parsimonious, adult-oriented, valid, and reliable measure of an individual's propensity to morally disengage, and demonstrate the relationship between it and a number of theoretically relevant constructs in its nomological network. Then, in 4 additional studies spanning laboratory and field settings, we demonstrate the power of the propensity to moral disengage to predict multiple types of unethical organizational behavior. In these studies we demonstrate that the propensity to morally disengage predicts several outcomes (self-reported unethical behavior, a decision to commit fraud, a self-serving decision in the workplace, and supervisor-and coworker-reported unethical work behaviors) beyond other established individual difference antecedents of unethical organizational behavior, as well as the most closely related extant measure of the construct. We conclude that scholars and practitioners seeking to understand a broad range of undesirable workplace behaviors can benefit from taking an individual's propensity to morally disengage into account. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed. A host of ethical debacles across a wide range of contexts has inspired growing interest in studying and understanding why individuals engage in the kind of behavior that leads to enormous costs-trillions

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2014

In this paper, we question the simplicity of the common prescription that more thinking leads to ... more In this paper, we question the simplicity of the common prescription that more thinking leads to better 26 moral choices. In three studies, we discover that the relationship between how complexly one reasons 27 before making a decision with moral consequences is related to the outcome of that decision in a curvi-28 linear way. Using two different moral decisions and both measuring and manipulating the level of cog-29 nitive complexity employed by the decision maker, we find that decisions made after reasoning with low 30 and high levels of cognitive complexity are less moral than those made after reasoning at moderate levels 31 of complexity. These results suggest that the best moral decisions are those that have been reasoned 32 through ''just enough''. Further, and at least as important, they illustrate the need to expand our study 33 of ethical behavior beyond simple effects, and to gain a deeper understanding of the thought processes 34 of individuals faced with moral choices. 35

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2013

Many theories of moral behavior assume that unethical behavior triggers negative affect. In this ... more Many theories of moral behavior assume that unethical behavior triggers negative affect. In this article, we challenge this assumption and demonstrate that unethical behavior can trigger positive affect, which we term a "cheater's high." Across 6 studies, we find that even though individuals predict they will feel guilty and have increased levels of negative affect after engaging in unethical behavior (Studies 1a and 1b), individuals who cheat on different problem-solving tasks consistently experience more positive affect than those who do not (Studies 2-5). We find that this heightened positive affect does not depend on self-selection (Studies 3 and 4), and it is not due to the accrual of undeserved financial rewards (Study 4). Cheating is associated with feelings of self-satisfaction, and the boost in positive affect from cheating persists even when prospects for self-deception about unethical behavior are reduced (Study 5). Our results have important implications for models of ethical decision making, moral behavior, and selfregulatory theory.

Human Resource Management Review, 2007

This paper aims to advance understanding of the effects of training on organizational-level outco... more This paper aims to advance understanding of the effects of training on organizational-level outcomes by reviewing the results of previous studies that have investigated the relationship between training and human resource, performance, and financial outcomes. The results of meta-analysis from 67 studies suggest that training is positively related to human resource outcomes and organizational performance but is only very weakly related to financial outcomes. The relationship between training and firm performance may be mediated by employee attitudes and human capital. Furthermore, training appears to be more strongly related to organizational outcomes when it is matched with key contextual factors such as organization capital intensity and business strategy, in support of the contingency perspective. Further, training is related independently to organizational outcomes in support of the universalistic perspective of strategic human resource management rather than a configurational perspective. The paper concludes with a critique of previous studies and directions for future research. Particular emphasis is given to the need for future research to integrate individual-level (micro) and organizational-level (macro) training research, models, and theory.

hbs.edu

... 2008; Clinard and Yeager 1980). Empirical work on misconduct has almost exclusively studied f... more ... 2008; Clinard and Yeager 1980). Empirical work on misconduct has almost exclusively studied first time offenses (Agrawal, Jaffe and Karpoff 1999; Akhigbe, Kudla and ... 1971). As one mental patient noted: Being crazy does have its benefits. Like people don't expect the ...