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The Effects of Ethical Climates on Organizational Commitment: A Two-Study Analysis

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Abstract

Although organizational commitment continues to interest researchers because of its positive effects on organizations, we know relatively little about the effects of the ethical context on organizational commitment. As such, we contribute to the organizational commitment field by assessing the effects of ethical climates (Victor and Cullen, 1987, 1988) on organizational commitment. We hypothesized that an ethical climate of benevolence has a positive relationship with organizational commitment while egoistic climate is negatively related to commitment. Results supported our propositions for both a benevolent climate and an egoistic climate. We also hypothesized that a principled climate is positively related to organizational commitment for professional workers but has no relationships for nonprofessional workers. Results supported this hypothesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Management Department, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164-4736, U.S.A.

    John B. Cullen

  2. Management Department, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI, 53190, U.S.A.

    K. Praveen Parboteeah

  3. Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37203, U.S.A.

    Bart Victor

Authors
  1. John B. Cullen
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  2. K. Praveen Parboteeah
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  3. Bart Victor
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Cullen, J.B., Parboteeah, K.P. & Victor, B. The Effects of Ethical Climates on Organizational Commitment: A Two-Study Analysis. Journal of Business Ethics 46, 127–141 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025089819456

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