管理者非伦理行为的决策偏移机制：权力与规范的影响

Corruption is the enemy of global governments and companies. Powerful people across organizations sometimes engage in unethical action, as demonstrated by scandals at Enron and other big companies in the early 2000s. The unethical behavior of powerful people cause more serious damages for society than ordinary ones. Unfortunately, the empirical studies on power and unethical behavior have not shown consistent results about the issue. It urges the needs for further researches on contingent factors of the issue. Based on the literatures reviews on behavioral ethics, we proposed that two approaches could be recommended to discover the contingency between power and unethical behavior. One approach we proposed is to consider the stability of powers as a contingent factor. The loss of power is always aversive for managers. The stability of power is an important contextual factor in changing environment. The hierarchy and status will influence the perceived stability of power. We supposed that the effects of power on unethical behavior would be moderated by the perceived stability. The other approach is about the social influence and norms. No one will conduct unethical behaviors without reasons. The decision about an ethical problem will be drifted by social influence and norms. Power makes people more confident about their own judgment, which means they will not be influenced. We supposed that social influence is another moderator on the relationship between power and unethical behaviors. We proposed multiple methods to empirically test our theory. We planned to use multilevel questionnaires, quasi-experiments and laboratory experiments in our studies. Multilevel questionnaire is an effective solution for common methods bias in behavioral research. We think that the matched data with supervisors and subordinates would be a more valid approach to discover the dynamics of power and stability. Experiment is a dominant research method in ethics research during last ten years. We proposed quasi-experiment would be a more effective method to combine ecological validity and internal valid. We also planned experiments and quasi-experiments in our research on contingent factor on the issue. We planned to finish our research in four years in four stages. With the data from multiple studies, we will develop our model on power and unethical behaviors and contribute to the understanding of corruption. With systematic data and proofs, our research will also contribute to the combating against unethical behaviors for managers.

腐败与非伦理行为是全球政府与企业共同的敌人，管理者的非伦理行为带来的社会危害更加严重。本项目采用行为伦理学的研究思路，结合社会认知领域研究新进展，综合采用现场访谈、跨层问卷调查、准实验和实验等多种研究方法，从两个方面的主要研究思路进行。一方面，关注权力的社会认知效应，观察管理者的权力、组织层级、权力稳定感、个体权力取向等变量如何带来决策偏移，产生非伦理行为；另一方面，研究关注文化规范、社会影响等群体层面的变量如何调节权力带来的决策偏移效应。项目计划从管理者的社会认知特征、所处组织场景、所受社会影响三个层面考察非伦理行为的影响要素，设计理论模型，并以此为基础开展数据收集。然后，通过方差分析、回归分析、多层线性模型等数据分析方法，挖掘管理者拥有的权力、层级、地位等组织情景变量对非伦理行为的影响关系。同时，尝试考虑以社会规范、规范破坏等互动情景因素为缓冲解释机制，以管理者的社会认知偏移为核心中介解释，结合压力、情绪等其他解释，系统预测非伦理行为。研究旨在加深对组织中管理者非伦理行为产生前因后果的认识，为系统性预防与克服组织非伦理行为提供对策建议。

非伦理行为给企业和社会造成很大损失，拥有权力的管理者的非伦理和脱轨行为会带来更大危害。按照研究计划，本项目以社会规范违背为概念界定，从两条思路开展研究。一方面，关注权力的影响范围与机制，观察权力、稳定感、价值取向如何交互影响违规行为。研究发现，权力提高管理者的负面人际认知，更有可能做出侵害他人利益的脱轨行为。当管理者感知到受威胁、不稳定的时候，他们更有可能通过攻击他人、违反规范显示自身领地，彰显权力。管理者的社会支配倾向起到调节影响，社会支配倾向高的管理者拥有权力时，更有可能产生侵害他人的脱轨行为。另一方面，项目实证研究个体文化规范对于脱轨行为的影响。结果发现，管理者强调竞争、社会比较的价值观念会提高非伦理行为的可能。他们会把个人目标放在突出位置，强调自身的心理特权，功利地看待工作结果。表现为关注社会比较的绩效结果，为脱轨行为进行辩解，忽视是否违背道德规范。长期导向、时间观念会提高管理者遵守社会规范的程度；减少思维定势转换有利于降低自我控制资源损耗，有利于在复杂动态的组织工作场景中维护社会规范遵守。项目研究也对心理特权、道德许可、社会传染等现象进行实证分析，结果发现，绩效目标导向高的员工更容易有社会传染。最后，研究检验了道德品质对管理者地位形成的作用途径。虽然受组织氛围的限制，道德品质是除了能力、支配以外第三条帮助管理者获得组织地位的途径。项目按照计划完成实证研究，并结合最近进展，延伸性地对非伦理行为理论问题进行探索。项目成果发表在国内外权威学术期刊上，通过研究实践，项目组博士生能力得以提升成长，成果也做了一定的科普性工作。总体上，项目按期完成了工作计划，研究结果为系统性预防与克服管理者的脱轨行为提供理论实践建议。