The Impact of IT Identity on IT-related Unethical Pro Organizational Behavior: Integrating the Moderating Effects of Organizational and Role Identity

In past researches, scholars have extensively explored how employees' organizational, role, or information technology identity can facilitate smooth organizational operations and enhance performance. However, excessive identification can also lead employees to adopt unethical means for the benefit of the organization, a phenomenon known as Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior (Jiang et al., 2023). For example, employees might conceal product defects or ignore legal regulations to protect the organization's image or maximize profits. Although these behaviors may benefit the organization in the short term, they can damage the organization's reputation and trust in the long run. Research on Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior is often based on theories such as Social Identity, Social Exchange, and Social Learning. The results indicate that organizational or role identification positively influences employees' unethical pro-organizational behavior. However, in recent years, academia has begun to focus on the concept of IT Identity (Carter et al., 2020). Research indicates that the higher the employees' IT Identity, the more positive behaviors it brings. However, IT Identity can also lead to Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior similar to that caused by high organizational or role identiy, especially when employees manipulate IT-related data or decisions for the benefit of the organization. This study focuses on IT Identity and its potential to induce IT-related Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior (IT-related UPOB), a topic that has been less explored in the past. The aim of this research is to fill this gap by investigating whether high IT Identity among employees can lead to IT-related UPOB. The findings will contribute theoretically to understanding the negative impacts of IT Identity and provide organizational managers with recommendations to address these potential risks, ensuring the long-term stable development of the organization.