Why it Goes Wrong: Causes of Corruption

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the complicated question of what causes integrity violations.¹ It has corruption as its center of attention, which may seem surprising given the previous argument for broadening the scope of “integrity violations” to reflect a broader “dark side” than simply corruption. We must limit ourselves to corruption, however, not only because of the current status of theory and research in this area but also because of our own lack of knowledge on the causes of other types of unethical behavior. Sexual intimidation, racial discrimination, or private time misbehavior, for example, might be related to other characteristics of personality, work or organization, and society than “corruption.” Hence, the analysis that follows is of limited significance for integrity violations in the broadest sense (even though actual “corruption” research, as we will show, often includes a variety of integrity violations).