Creative Unethicality and Its Ripple Effects in Competitive Settings: A Perceived Relative Deprivation Perspective

Despite efforts to identify what drives employees’ unethical behaviors, extant research has given limited attention to how perceptions of relative deprivation—a feeling of being unjustly deprived of deserved outcomes, in comparison with peers—might encourage creative unethicality. As relative deprivation theory predicts, employees who observe peers benefiting from engaging in creative but unethical acts may sense their own relative deprivation and therefore engage in creative unethicality themselves as a means to restore psychological equity. We suggest this tendency will be particularly salient in highly competitive team environments. With a field study and three experimental studies, the current research tests a model in which perceived relative deprivation arises from observing peers’ creative unethicality within a competitive team climate, which can then exert downstream effects that manifest as further creative unethicality. This research clarifies some unique characteristics of creative unethicality and identifies perceived relative deprivation as a pathway that induces creative unethicality when employees compare themselves with misbehaving peers. Practically, the findings highlight the importance of monitoring competitive team climates and implementing strategies to curb the spread of creative unethicality within organizations.