| Peer-Reviewed

Empirical Study on the Relationship Between Performance Pressure and Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior of Sales Staff -- The Mediating of Professional Identity

Received: 16 March 2023    Accepted: 24 April 2023    Published: 27 April 2023
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

Background: In recent years, an increasing number of corporate unethical incidents have come to light, which has led people from various industries to seriously consider and examine the ethical responsibilities that companies should take. Based on emotional cognitive appraisal theory and self-control resource theory, this study explores the linkage between professional identity, sales staff unethical pro-organizational behavior, and sales staff performance pressure. Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanisms underlying the influence of sales staff performance pressure mediated by professional identity on sales staff unethical pro-organizational behavior, to assist companies in effectively identifying employee unethical pro-organizational behavior, and suggest targeted strategies to inhibit unethical pro-organizational behavior so as to ensure the long-term and sustainable development of companies. Methods: A questionnaire survey on performance pressure, professional identity, and unethical pro-organizational behavior was conducted with sales staff and internship college students. A total of 266 questionnaires were collected, with 219 valid questionnaires. The relationship between the three variables was explored through analysis of variance, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and mediation effect analysis. Conclusion: performance pressure positively influences sales staff's unethical pro-organizational behavior and has a significant predictive effect on it; performance pressure can indirectly influence sales staff's unethical pro-organizational behavior by affecting professional identity, and professional identity plays a fully mediating role between these variables.

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 12, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.pbs.20231202.11
Page(s) 31-38
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Performance Pressure, Professional Identity, Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior, Sales Staff

References
[1] Chen, Mo; Chen, Chao C. The moral dark side of performance pressure: how and when it affects unethical pro-organizational behavior [J]. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2021: 1-31.
[2] Chen M, Liang J. High Performance Requirements and Pro-Organizational Unethical Behavior: A Perspective Based on Social Cognitive Theory [J]. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 2017, 49 (01): 94-105.
[3] Dou K, Nie Y G, Wang Y J, Shen W B. Ego depletion promotes impulsive decision: evidence from behavioral and ERPs studies [J]. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 2014, 46 (10): 1564-1579.
[4] Eisenberger R, Aselage J. Incremental Effects of Reward on Experienced Performance Pressure: Positive Outcomes for Intrinsic Interest and Creativity [J]. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2009, 30 (1): 95-117.
[5] Gardner H K. Performance Pressure as a Doubleedged Sword: Enhancing Team Motivation but Undermining the Use of Team Knowledge [J]. Adminis-trative Science Quarterly, 2012, 57 (1): 1-46.
[6] Gurran, V. R., Sharpe, D., & Flynn K. A longitudinal study of the effect of an interprofessional education curriculum on student satisfaction and attitude towards interprofessional teamwork and education. J Interprof Care, 2010, 24 (1), 41-52.
[7] Hollannd, J. L., Johnston, J. A. & Asama, N. F. The vocational identity scale: a diagnostic and treatment tool. Journal of career Assessment, 1993, 1 (1), 1-12.
[8] Hussey, L. K., & Campbell-Meier, J. Developing professional identity in lis?. Education for Information, 2016, 32 (4), 343-357.
[9] Ivancevich J M Matteson M T. Stress and Work: A Managerial Perspective [M]. Glenview L: Scott Foresman 1980: 58.
[10] Li X Y, Wang W Y. The impact mechanisms of performance pressure on workplace deception [J]. Journal of Business Economics, 2020, 348 (10): 39-51.
[11] Luo J, Zhou Y, Chen W, Pan Y, Zhao S Y. Teachers' professional identity and affective commitment: mediating role of job satisfaction [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2014, 30 (3), 322-328.
[12] McGowen, K. R., & Hart, L. E. Still different after all these years: gender difference inprofessional identityformation. Prof Psychol Res Pr, 1990, 21 (2), 118-123.
[13] Melgosa, J. Development and validation of the occupational identity scale. Journal of Adolescence, 1987, 10 (4), 385-397.
[14] Rasool SF, Wang M, Zhang Y, Samma M. Sustainable Work Performance: The Roles of Workplace Violence and Occupational Stress. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Feb 1; 17 (3): 912.
[15] Rooij A D, Corr P J, Jones S. Emotion and Creativity: Hacking into Cognitive Appraisal Processes to Augment Creative Ideation [J]. Acm Sigchi Conference on Creativity & Cognition. ACM, 2015: 265-274.
[16] Shao K H, Liao H Y, Chen Q Y. Authoritarian leadership influences on employee’s unethical pro-organizational behavior—a moderated-mediation model [J]. Soft Science, 2020, 34 (05): 76-81.
[17] Tang Q. The effect of performance pressure on employees' unethical pro-organizational behavior [D]. Harbin Institute of Technology, 2020.
[18] Umphress E E, Bingham J B. When Employees Do Bad Things for Good Reasons: Examining Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior [J]. Organization Science, 2011, 22 (3): 621-640.
[19] Wen Z L, Zhang L, Hou J T, Liu H Y. Testing and application of the mediating effects [J]. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 2004 (05): 614-620.
[20] Zimbardo P. G., Leippe, M. R. The psychology of attitude change and social influence [M]. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Zeng Zhi, Jiang Xiaohan, Ren Zelongjiang, Zheng Jiahuan. (2023). Empirical Study on the Relationship Between Performance Pressure and Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior of Sales Staff -- The Mediating of Professional Identity. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 12(2), 31-38. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20231202.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Zeng Zhi; Jiang Xiaohan; Ren Zelongjiang; Zheng Jiahuan. Empirical Study on the Relationship Between Performance Pressure and Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior of Sales Staff -- The Mediating of Professional Identity. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2023, 12(2), 31-38. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20231202.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Zeng Zhi, Jiang Xiaohan, Ren Zelongjiang, Zheng Jiahuan. Empirical Study on the Relationship Between Performance Pressure and Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior of Sales Staff -- The Mediating of Professional Identity. Psychol Behav Sci. 2023;12(2):31-38. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20231202.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.pbs.20231202.11,
      author = {Zeng Zhi and Jiang Xiaohan and Ren Zelongjiang and Zheng Jiahuan},
      title = {Empirical Study on the Relationship Between Performance Pressure and Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior of Sales Staff -- The Mediating of Professional Identity},
      journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
      volume = {12},
      number = {2},
      pages = {31-38},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20231202.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20231202.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20231202.11},
      abstract = {Background: In recent years, an increasing number of corporate unethical incidents have come to light, which has led people from various industries to seriously consider and examine the ethical responsibilities that companies should take. Based on emotional cognitive appraisal theory and self-control resource theory, this study explores the linkage between professional identity, sales staff unethical pro-organizational behavior, and sales staff performance pressure. Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanisms underlying the influence of sales staff performance pressure mediated by professional identity on sales staff unethical pro-organizational behavior, to assist companies in effectively identifying employee unethical pro-organizational behavior, and suggest targeted strategies to inhibit unethical pro-organizational behavior so as to ensure the long-term and sustainable development of companies. Methods: A questionnaire survey on performance pressure, professional identity, and unethical pro-organizational behavior was conducted with sales staff and internship college students. A total of 266 questionnaires were collected, with 219 valid questionnaires. The relationship between the three variables was explored through analysis of variance, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and mediation effect analysis. Conclusion: performance pressure positively influences sales staff's unethical pro-organizational behavior and has a significant predictive effect on it; performance pressure can indirectly influence sales staff's unethical pro-organizational behavior by affecting professional identity, and professional identity plays a fully mediating role between these variables.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Empirical Study on the Relationship Between Performance Pressure and Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior of Sales Staff -- The Mediating of Professional Identity
    AU  - Zeng Zhi
    AU  - Jiang Xiaohan
    AU  - Ren Zelongjiang
    AU  - Zheng Jiahuan
    Y1  - 2023/04/27
    PY  - 2023
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20231202.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20231202.11
    T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
    JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
    JO  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
    SP  - 31
    EP  - 38
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7845
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20231202.11
    AB  - Background: In recent years, an increasing number of corporate unethical incidents have come to light, which has led people from various industries to seriously consider and examine the ethical responsibilities that companies should take. Based on emotional cognitive appraisal theory and self-control resource theory, this study explores the linkage between professional identity, sales staff unethical pro-organizational behavior, and sales staff performance pressure. Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanisms underlying the influence of sales staff performance pressure mediated by professional identity on sales staff unethical pro-organizational behavior, to assist companies in effectively identifying employee unethical pro-organizational behavior, and suggest targeted strategies to inhibit unethical pro-organizational behavior so as to ensure the long-term and sustainable development of companies. Methods: A questionnaire survey on performance pressure, professional identity, and unethical pro-organizational behavior was conducted with sales staff and internship college students. A total of 266 questionnaires were collected, with 219 valid questionnaires. The relationship between the three variables was explored through analysis of variance, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and mediation effect analysis. Conclusion: performance pressure positively influences sales staff's unethical pro-organizational behavior and has a significant predictive effect on it; performance pressure can indirectly influence sales staff's unethical pro-organizational behavior by affecting professional identity, and professional identity plays a fully mediating role between these variables.
    VL  - 12
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • School of Health and Economics Management, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China

  • School of Health and Economics Management, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China

  • School of Health and Economics Management, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China

  • School of Health and Economics Management, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China

  • Sections