Psychological safety as a precedent to unethical pro-organizational behavior: A social exchange analysis

Purpose. This study aims to investigate how psychological safety act as an antecedent of unethical pro-organizational behavior. Drawing from social exchange theory, we examine the role ofjob insecurity as a mediating variable along with moderation of employee proactive personality onthe said association. Study design. Data were collected using a survey structured questionnaire fromChinese managers (N = 135) from service and manufacturing companies in Hefei. Smart PLS was usedto analyze the data. Findings. The result showed that job insecurity mediated the relationship between psychological safety and unethical pro-organizational behavior. However, the results also revealed that a proactive personality does not moderate the relationship between psychological safety and job insecurity. Findings also suggest that supervisors should be conscious that workers who are at risk of being firedmaybe engage in unethical pro-organizational behavior just to keep their job safe. Such behavior can beharmful to the company in the long term, so managers must be careful and prompt in upsetting such behavior. Implications for practice. By statistically evaluating relationships between psychological safety and unethical pro-organizational behavior, the findings provide insight into social exchange theory and practice in the service and manufacturing industries. In the long run, managers must understand factors other than moral principles that influence employee commitment. Originality. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that precisely investigates psychological safety as an antecedent of unethical pro-organizational conduct with the mediation function of job insecurity.