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UGA study finds high-pressure expectations lead to unethical behavior
From Volkswagen on emissions tests to Wells Fargo on opening extra accounts, the tales of workers who cheat continually grab media attention. But Marie Mitchell and her co-authors found a simple reason for such employee malfeasance: When people think they have to meet high benchmarks to keep a job, some fudge results.
In "Cheating Under Pressure: A SelfProtection Model of Workplace Cheating Behavior," Mitchell, an associate professor of management at the University of Georgia, reported that cheating is especially prevalent if workers think they cannot meet expectations any other way. This perception leads to anger and unethical behavior, which causes employees to focus...