Skip to content

Opening book details…

About this Psychology article

Excluded and behaving unethically: Social exclusion, physiological responses, and unethical behavior. by Maryam Kouchaki; Justin Wareham is a Psychology article available to read on EtoBox.

Across 2 studies, we investigated the ethical consequences of physiological responses to social exclusion. In Study 1, participants who were socially excluded were more likely to engage in unethical behavior to make money and the level of physiological arousal experienced during exclusion--measured using galvanic skin response--mediated the effects of exclusion on unethical behavior. Likewise, in Study 2, results from a sample of supervisor-subordinate dyads revealed a positive relationship between experience of workplace ostracism and unethical behaviors as rated by the immediate supervisors. This relationship was mediated by employees' reports of experienced physiological arousal. Together, the results of these studies demonstrate that physiological arousal accompanies social exclusion and provides an explanatory mechanism for the increased unethical behavior in both samples. Theoretical implications of these findings for research on ethical behavior and social exclusion in the workplace are discussed.

It is typically read by researchers, students, and practitioners in Psychology.

Author
Maryam Kouchaki; Justin Wareham
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2014
Language
EN
Field
Psychology (Social Sciences)