Relationships between the Dark Tetrad traits and the tendency towards corruptive behaviour: The mediating effect of corruptive rationalizations and the moderating effect of organizational ethical virtues

Abstract

The Dark Triad/Tetrad traits are associated with various counterproductive work behaviours, including unethical behaviours such as a tendency towards corruption. The aim of this research is to further examine the mechanism and conditions under which the dark traits are linked to the corruption tendency. More specifically, we aim at investigating the mediating effect of corruptive rationalizations and the moderating effect of the organization's ethical culture, i.e., organizational ethical virtues, including the effect of moderated mediation. The sample consisted of 252 employees (58.3% female), aged 20 to 64. The results indicate that all dark traits, except psychopathy, have a significant direct and positive effect on the corruption tendency when considered all together in a regression model. Corruptive rationalizations are a significant mediator between Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism, on the one hand, and the corruption tendency, on the other. Unexpectedly, the organizational ethical virtues have not proved to be a significant moderator in the relationship between the dark traits and corruption tendency. However, it has been found that these traits are a significant moderator between Machiavellianism and corruptive rationalizations, but in an unexpected way. This implies that the link between Machiavellianism and corruptive rationalizations is stronger in cases of more pronounced ethical virtues in the organization. The results generally point to a higher importance of individual factors of corruptive behaviour, in contrast to organizational factors, and provide additional insights into the complex relationships between the individual factors and corruptive behaviour.