Supervising or protecting? Internal auditors and unethical pro-organizational behavior

Purpose This study aims to investigate how organizational commitment and professional commitment jointly influence internal auditors' intentions to engage in unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), with moral disengagement as a mediating mechanism. Design/methodology/approach The main study comprises a questionnaire survey (Study 2) and an experiment (Study 3). Study 2 collected 325 valid samples from a 2-wave survey of full-time internal auditors, while Study 3 recruited 300 samples via Credamo. Analytical methodologies include polynomial regression, response surface analysis and block variable modeling to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The results indicate that when organizational commitment exceeds professional commitment, internal auditors exhibit stronger UPB intentions. When dual commitments are aligned, commitment level demonstrates an inverted U-shaped relationship with UPB intentions. Moreover, moral disengagement mediates the joint influence of dual commitments on UPB intentions. Originality/value By integrating the role theory and the commitment theory, this study explores internal auditors' unique UPB decision-making dilemmas, causes and responses. Using a three-dimensional response surface analysis, it reveals how dual commitments, as conflicting antecedents, jointly influence UPB intentions, clarifying UPB'sparadoxical nature and advancing research on UPB, the role theory and the commitment theory.