Doing the Job Well: An Investigation of Pro-Social Rule Breaking

Abstract

This article introduces and explores the construct of pro-social rule breaking. Pro-social rule breaking is rooted in a desire to promote the welfare of the organization or one of its stakeholders. The first two studies used interview data to identify three primary types of pro-social rule breaking: rule breaking to perform one’s responsibilities more efficiently, rule breaking to help a subordinate or colleague, and rule breaking to provide good customer service. A third study used a scenario-based laboratory experiment. It found that the likelihood of pro-social rule breaking was positively related to job autonomy, coworker behavior, and risk-taking propensity.