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The Benefits to the Human Spirit of Acting Ethically at Work: The Effects of Professional Moral Courage on Work Meaningfulness and Life Well-Being

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Abstract

Organizations receive multiple benefits when their members act ethically. Of interest in this study is if the actors receive benefits as well, especially as individuals look to work to fulfill psychological and social needs in addition to economic ones. Specifically, we highlight a series of ongoing ethical practices embodied in professional moral courage and their relationship to actor’s work meaningfulness and life well-being. Drawing on self-determination theory and affective events theory, we explore how exercising professional moral courage in one’s work leads to positive work and life outcomes. Data from 106 administrative staff of non-profit organizations demonstrates the positive benefits of adopting ethical practices at work. Specifically, professional moral courage is found to be significantly related to both work meaningfulness and individual eudaimonic life well-being. Our findings note positive benefits for individuals who incorporate professional moral courage into their daily lives and provide support for organizations seeking to encourage it from their employees; benefits for organizations and employees go beyond just the gains from ethical behavior into other positive psychological processes. Implications for future work that considers both the psychological and normative approaches to meaningful work are discussed.

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Notes

  1. We are thankful to two of our reviewers for raising these questions regarding the normative implications of our findings.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participating organizations for their help in enlisting participants and the participants for giving of their time for this project. Additionally, we would like to thank our reviewers for their helpful comments during the review process and Dr. Christopher Michaelson for his stewardship of the process.

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  1. Department of Management Sciences, College of Business Administration, Abilene Christian University, ACU Box 29352, 254 MBB, Abilene, TX, 79699, USA

    Matthew D. Deeg

  2. Professor Emeritus of Positive Organizational Scholarship and Business Ethics, The University of Kansas, 4137 CFH, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Douglas R. May

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Deeg, M.D., May, D.R. The Benefits to the Human Spirit of Acting Ethically at Work: The Effects of Professional Moral Courage on Work Meaningfulness and Life Well-Being. J Bus Ethics 181, 397–411 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04980-4

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