(Un)ethical behaviors of police officers in South Korea: a structural equation analysis

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims examine to what extent four variable categories of individual ethical ideology, organizational ethical culture, superior's ethical quality and job satisfaction (JS) are causally linked to personal (un)ethical behaviors among South Korean police officers.Design/methodology/approachWith a stratified sampling technique, 687 surveys were collected from 16 major local police headquarters across the nation. The reliability and validity of the variables were checked. The structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the hypotheses.FindingsIdealism, principlism, utilitarianism and JS have a negative influence on unethical behaviors, whereas superior's unethical standards are positively associated with unethical behaviors.Practical implicationsThe findings can be applied as a reference to improve ethical framework to promote behaviors by enriching the higher level of personal ethical ideology, superior's ethical quality and principlism and utilitarianism by adding an ethics training course to the continuing education program for all officers and developing further education programs for police leadership to raise ethical awareness and quality.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, the study is among the first studies with four comprehensive categories of relevant variables and adds understanding to (un)ethical behaviors of police officers.