The Whispering Guardian: Religiosity And Internal Whistleblowing In The Realm Of ‘Normalised’ Corruption

This study seeks to fill the theoretical and empirical gaps by investigating whether religiosity can serve as a moral counterforce to perceived risks or whether corruption weakens its impact, leading to moral disengagement or rationalised silence. Our study is unique in its use of Person-Organisation fit theory as a conceptual framework. Data for this study were obtained through a structured questionnaire administered to Indonesian public servants. A purposive sampling strategy was employed to select specific local government institutions aligned with the study's objectives. In total, 157 valid responses were analysed. For the empirical examination, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was utilised as the primary analytical technique. Our findings show that religiosity positively influences internal whistleblowing system, suggesting that individuals with strong religious values are more likely to report misconduct. Conversely, corruption negatively affects internal whistleblowing, reinforcing the idea that corrupt environments discourage employees from speaking up. Interestingly, however, corruption does not moderate the relationship between religiosity and whistleblowing. These insights are critical in the present times by demonstrating that while corruption weakens whistleblowing overall, it does not diminish the ethical influence of religiosity. This has important implications for policymakers and public institutions in Indonesia and beyond, as it highlights the need to strengthen whistleblowing mechanisms while recognising the role of personal moral values in fostering ethical behaviour.