Does Power Protect Female Moral Objectors? How and When Moral Objectors’ Gender, Power, and Use of Organizational Frames Influence Perceived Self-Control and Experienced Retaliation

Organizational scholars have called upon higher-power individuals to serve as moral objectors to combat unethical behavior at work because it is assumed they will face less retaliation. However, research has painted an unclear picture of whether power protects women in the same way as it does men. In this paper, we draw on two distinct role theories (i.e., power role theories and gender role theories) as well as expectancy violation theory, theorizing and finding that female moral objectors benefit less from power than male moral objectors because they are viewed as lower in self-control. We further investigate an alternative remedy, or organizational frame, that may mitigate retaliation against higher-powered female moral objectors, finding that using this frame increases perceptions of self-control and reduces retaliation. We test and find support for our theory across four studies, including an archival study (n 5 33,715), a critical incident technique experiment, and two preregistered experiments testing our intervention.