Does the place make the people? The role of leadership and work climate for moral and prosocial socialization in the workplace.

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Claudia Peus, since 8/2020
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology ; Accounting and Finance ; Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2019 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 418465753

In order to maintain a healthy and democratic society, it is vital to nurture the moral and prosocial development of all citizens. Likewise, as corporate ethical debacles proliferate, a perennial question asked by researchers, organizations and the general public is: How does the context individuals are embedded in influence moral and prosocial development? Whereas a large body of research has addressed moral and prosocial development in the family and the educational context, so far, little is known about how the occupational context may influence moral and prosocial development. This is surprising from both a practical and a theoretical perspective. Practically speaking, the average adult spends a substantial percentage of its life at work and spillover effects from work to personal life are well documented in psychological research. Also, from a theoretical perspective, there is no reason to believe that moral and prosocial socialization stops with adulthood. Yet, the bulk of research on moral and prosocial functioning in organizations adopts a rather static perspective and does not focus on development over time as a function of the work context. In fact, most studies in this field have been cross-sectional and correlational, leaving us with limited knowledge about causality and what drives change in moral and prosocial functioning over time. The proposed project aims at filling this gap by explicitly investigating the organizational context as a source of employees’ moral and prosocial socialization. Specifically, current research in this field points to two particularly influencing features of the work context: leadership and a work climate with an explicit ethical orientation. Against this background, the proposed project has two major purposes: First, the main objective is to longitudinally investigate the socialization potential of ethically-oriented leadership and socio-moral climate concerning employees’ prosocial and moral development by using sophisticated longitudinal research methods including a meaningful sample size in combination with an adequate number of observations. To optimally capture the moral and prosocial socialization potential of these features, the focus is on newcomers and how they develop over time The second objective is to expand existing research by using a more integrated conceptualization of moral and prosocial development. Specifically, we focus on moral identity, moral sensitivity, moral reasoning, and other features that contribute to individuals’ drive to take moral action. Moreover, we focus on work-related and general prosocial behaviors, including civic orientations and behaviors, as proxies for moral action. In summary, this project will substantially deepen our understanding of how the social context in organizations can influence (or impede) moral and prosocial development of organizational members over time and shed light on the underlying change process and temporal dynamics.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Armin Pircher Verdorfer, until 8/2020