Abstract Taking Chinese “Bao” theory as starting point, and basing on survey data from 326 employees and their supervisor, this paper aims to explore the formation mechanism of unethical pro-supervisor behavior. The results show that: (1) There exists a significantly positive correlation between supervisor-subordinate guanxi and unethical pro-supervisor behavior. (2) Both instrumental commitment and affective commitment are partial mediators between supervisor-subordinate guanxi and unethical pro-supervisor behavior. The mediating effect of affective commitment is stronger than instrumental commitment. (3) The subordinate’s moral identity moderates the relationship between instrumental commitment and unethical pro-supervisor behavior and the indirect relationship between supervisor-subordinate guanxi and unethical pro-supervisor behavior through instrumental commitment such that this relationship is weaker for subordinates with high levels with low levels between supervisor-subordinate guanxi and unethical pro-supervisor behavior is not moderated by moral identity.
FU Bo,PENG Jian,CHEN Zhi. The Formation and Prevention of Unethical Pro-Supervisor Behavior from the Perspective of Chinese Bao Culture[J]. Chinese Journal of Management, 2021, 18(11): 1629-.