To be the partner in crime: Unethical loyalty in an online setting

In this study, we will examine individuals’ willingness to cover up others’ unethical actions, that is, their tendency to engage in unethical loyalty. In a recent laboratory study (Thielmann et al., 2021), a high prevalence of unethical loyalty was found. Our study’s first goal is to investigate whether individuals are equally willing to engage in unethical loyalty in an online setting.

The current study aims to replicate the findings by Thielmann et al. in an online setting. We thus hypothesize that:
1) Unethical loyalty increases with increasing bribes (= the money offered for unethical loyalty).
2) Unethical loyalty decreases with increasing levels in Honesty-Humility.

Moreover, we will examine the role of perceived justifiability for unethical loyalty. Specifically, we hypothesize that:

3) The negative relation between Honesty-Humility and unethical loyalty is mediated by the perceived justifiability of unethical loyalty. By implication, we also expect a positive relation between the perceived justifiability of unethical loyalty and engaging in unethical loyalty and a negative relation between Honesty-Humility and the perceived justifiability of unethical loyalty.
Finally, we consider two specific reasons for perceiving unethical loyalty justifiable - self-interest and prosociality. We hypothesize:
4) Honesty-Humility is negatively related to perceiving unethical loyalty justifiable because it serves one’s own self-interest (4a) and positively related to perceiving unethical loyalty justifiable because it is prosocial (4b).