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Are Creative Individuals Bad Apples? A Dual Pathway Model of Unethical Behavior

Journal of Applied Psychology
Authors:
Sejin Keem
Sejin Keem
Sejin Keem
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Christina E. Shalley at Georgia Institute of Technology
Christina E. Shalley
Eugene Kim
Eugene Kim
Eugene Kim
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Inseong Jeong at University of Melbourne
Inseong Jeong
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Abstract

Research has been inconsistent in its quest to discover whether dispositional creativity is associated with more or less unethical behavior. Drawing on social cognitive theory, we propose that moral disengagement and moral imagination are 2 parallel mechanisms that encourage or inhibit unethical behavior, and that which of these mediation processes occur depends on moral identity. Study 1, a 3-wave study of a food service organization, shows that employees high on both dispositional creativity and moral identity are less likely to be morally disengaged and behave less unethically. The results of Study 2 replicate Study 1’s findings in a scenario-based study of college students, and further show that individuals who are high on both dispositional creativity and moral identity are more likely to be morally imaginative and to behave less unethically. Theoretical and practical implications of our model are discussed.
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Are Creative Individuals Bad Apples? A Dual Pathway Model of
Unethical Behavior
Sejin Keem
Portland State University
Christina E. Shalley and Eugene Kim
Georgia Institute of Technology
Inseong Jeong
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Research has been inconsistent in its quest to discover whether dispositional creativity is associated with
more or less unethical behavior. Drawing on social cognitive theory, we propose that moral disengage-
ment and moral imagination are 2 parallel mechanisms that encourage or inhibit unethical behavior, and
that which of these mediation processes occur depends on moral identity. Study 1, a 3-wave study of a
food service organization, shows that employees high on both dispositional creativity and moral identity
are less likely to be morally disengaged and behave less unethically. The results of Study 2 replicate
Study 1’s findings in a scenario-based study of college students, and further show that individuals who
are high on both dispositional creativity and moral identity are more likely to be morally imaginative and
to behave less unethically. Theoretical and practical implications of our model are discussed.
Keywords: dispositional creativity, moral disengagement, moral imagination, moral identity, unethical
behavior
Just as creativity enables us to envision novel solutions to tough
problems, it can also enable us to develop original paths around rules,
all the while allowing us to reinterpret information in a self-serving
way....Creativity can help us tell better stories—stories that allow
us to be even more dishonest but still think of ourselves as wonder-
fully honest people.
(Ariely, 2012,p.89)
A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehen-
sively; he must put himself in the place of many others . . . the great
instrument of moral goods is the imagination.
(Shelley, 1821/1995,p.13)
Unethical behavior is widespread in the workplace. Although
81% of United States organizations offer ethics training, 41% of
employees report witnessing unethical behavior at work (Ethics
Resource Center, 2013). This means that organizations can benefit
from understanding which employees are more likely to be “bad
apples” (Kish-Gephart, Harrison, & Treviño, 2010) in the interest
of stemming the incidence of unethical behavior. One individual
difference characteristic that is a likely antecedent of unethical
behavior is dispositional creativity, which represents an individual
having the internal resources to engage in flexible and divergent
thinking processes and the motivation to engage in such activities
(Guilford, 1967;Helson, Roberts, & Agronick, 1995;McCrae,
1987). Employee creativity is essential for devising solutions that
positively impact organizational performance (Amabile, 1983;An-
derson, Potocˇnik, & Zhou, 2014;Woodman, Sawyer, & Griffin,
1993). Thus, many organizations selectively hire individuals who
they believe could be creative, and try to provide the type of work
environment that will foster their creativity (Shalley, Gilson, &
Blum, 2000). However, this could cause issues for organizations if
employees high on dispositional creativity also tend to behave in
more unethical ways.
The literature offers conflicting views on the relationship be-
tween dispositional creativity and the incidence of unethical be-
havior. For example, research highlighting the dark side of cre-
ativity has argued that dispositional creativity is a significant
predictor of unethical behavior because those high on this personal
characteristic are able to come up with multiple ways to justify
their moral transgressions (Gino & Ariely, 2012). Specifically, it
has been found that creative individuals are more likely to behave
unethically (e.g., Gino & Ariely, 2012;Gino & Wiltermuth, 2014).
Yet, other research suggests the opposite possibility. In particular,
Mumford and colleagues (2010) found that doctoral students who
were higher on dispositional creativity were less likely to conduct
unethical research because they had the in-depth knowledge and
skills needed to resolve complex ethical dilemmas without resort-
ing to dishonesty. Moreover, a study conducted by Bierly, Kolo-
dinsky, and Charette (2009) suggested that dispositional creativity
can help enhance ethical decision making especially within am-
biguous situations, because individuals high on dispositional cre-
ativity have higher flexible thinking that can help them generate
ethical resolutions when faced with uncertain situations.
Our objective is to integrate these two opposing perspectives on
the relationship between dispositional creativity and unethical be-
This article was published Online First December 14, 2017.
Sejin Keem, School of Business, Portland State University; Christina E.
Shalley and Eugene Kim, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute
of Technology; Inseong Jeong, HKUST Business School, Hong Kong
University of Science and Technology.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sejin
Keem, School of Business, Portland State University, 615 SW Harrison
Street, Portland, OR 97201. E-mail: sejin.keem@pdx.edu
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
Journal of Applied Psychology © 2017 American Psychological Association
2018, Vol. 103, No. 4, 416– 431 0021-9010/18/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000290
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