Personal attributes, organizational conditions, and ethical attitudes: a social cognitive approach

This paper investigates the impact of personal attributes and organizational conditions on attitudes toward corporate misdeeds. On the basis of social cognitive theory, we develop hypotheses that are tested against data collected from 215 German employees using an online survey. Our findings suggest that personal attributes (i.e. gender, age, Big five personality traits) have a much greater impact on ethical attitudes than organizational conditions (i.e. organizational culture). Further, a moderating effect of control-oriented culture on the relationship between personality traits (i.e. conscientiousness, extraversion) and attitudes toward corporate misdeeds is found. We derive implications for human resource management and further theory development.