Abstract
Despite the increasing knowledge about why employees conduct unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), we know little about the consequences of UPB. Within the limited studies investigating consequences of UPB, scholars have predominately focused on feeling and cognition of actors who engage in UPB, leaving the interpersonal influence of UPB largely under-explored. Building on social learning theory, we contend that a focal employee’s UPB would lead to coworkers’bottom-line mentality (BLM), which in turn promote their engagement in UPB. Moreover, this contagion effect is more pronounced when the focal employee has high job performance evaluation. Results from a three-wave, multi-source field survey (Study 1a: N1a= 171 employees nested in 48 teams) and two scenario-based experiments (Study 1b: N1b= 100 employee-coworker dyads; Study 2: N2= 160 employee-coworker dyads) support our speculations. Our findings not only shed new light on the interpersonal dynamics of UPB among employees, but also carry crucial implications for organizations to prevent the spread of such unethical conduct.