TRSM Research Seminar by Dr. Annika Hillebrandt

Title:
How Engaging in Workplace Cheating Behavior Can Trigger State Paranoia and Undermine Helping Behavior

Description:
Unethical workplace behavior has been associated with a range of detrimental outcomes for organizations. However, the consequences for the individual engaging in the behavior are poorly understood. The overall goal of this research is to provide insights into how engaging in self-interested unethical workplace behavior can impact employees’ psychological states and social relationships in the workplace. Integrating insights from behavioral ethics and clinical psychology, my general argument is that engaging in workplace cheating behavior can spark paranoia. In turn, paranoia can create dysfunction in how employees perceive and interact with others in the workplace. Hypotheses were tested in three studies – a behavioral lab study (N = 137), a field study with employees in a single organization (N = 187), and an online recall experiment (N = 206). Across the studies, state paranoia mediated the relationship between one’s own self-interested unethical behavior and helping behavior. These findings highlight that employees may inadvertently elicit state paranoia through their own behaviors and that this aversive psychological state can also undermine their social relationships.

Presenter:
Annika Hillebrandt is an Assistant Professor in the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. Her research program focuses on issues related to unethical workplace behavior and organizational justice, including the explanatory role of emotions in these processes. Her research has been supported by awards from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and published in outlets such as the Journal of Applied Psychology. She also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Business Ethics.