Catch one and forget others: Effects of achievement value and task performance on UPB

Drawing on the theory of moral neglect, this article proposes a person-situation interactionist model in which individual achievement value interacts with task performance to predict employee unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) through the mediating effect of moral inattentiveness. Two studies using survey and experimental vignette designs were conducted in China and the United States respectively to test our hypotheses. Study 1 with a sample of 470 employees revealed that employees with high achievement value were more likely to do UPB when they experienced lower task performance. Study 2 in a higher controlled setting replicated the results in Study 1 and found that the interacting effect of achievement value and task performance on UPB was mediated by moral inattentiveness. Theoretical and managerial implications of our results are discussed.