When and How Ingratiation Boosts Coworker-Directed Cooperative Behavior

Area of Science:

• Organizational Behavior
• Social Psychology
• Ethics in the Workplace

Background:

• Ingratiation tactics are common in organizations, but their impact on employee moral perception and behavior is underexplored.
• Existing research often focuses on the target of ingratiation, neglecting the actor's internal processes.
• Moral cleansing theory provides a framework to understand how individuals manage moral perceptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the actor-centered perspective of ingratiation's effect on employees' moral rumination and coworker-directed cooperative behavior.
• To investigate the mediating role of moral rumination in the relationship between ingratiation and cooperative behavior.
• To explore the moderating influence of moral identity on this process.

Main Methods:

• A multi-wave survey design was employed.
• Data were collected from 272 employees.
• A theoretical model was tested using statistical analysis.

Main Results:

• Employee ingratiation positively influences moral rumination.
• Moral rumination, in turn, enhances coworker-directed cooperative behavior.
• The indirect effect of ingratiation on cooperative behavior through moral rumination is strengthened by high moral identity.

Conclusions:

• Ingratiation shapes an actor's moral perception and subsequent behavior, shifting focus from targets to actors.
• Moral rumination acts as a key mediating mechanism linking ingratiation to cooperative actions.
• Moral identity moderates the ingratiation-rumination-cooperation pathway, offering nuanced insights for organizational practices.