Unethical Behavior for Self or Collective Benefit: The Role of Self- Construal

Recent evidence and theory on the effects of individualism- collectivism and self-construal on ethical behavior have been inconsistent, suggesting that interdependent construal may be both positively and negatively related to unethical behaviors and values. In order to explain these inconsistencies, we develop theory and hypotheses regarding the role of self-construal in predicting unethical behavior. Importantly, we emphasize the importance of considering who bears to gain from an unethical behavior prior to delineating the effect that self-construal will exert. We test our hypotheses with two lab experiments which utilized random assignment. Based on our results for self-construal, we make inferences regarding cultural differences in individualism- collectivism and unethical behavior.