Moral Identity as a Moderator of the Effects of Organizational Injustice on Counterproductive Work Behavior Among Chinese Public Servants

Despite the considerable research to investigate the influence of organizational injustice on employees’ counterproductive work behaviors (CWB), relatively little attention has been paid to the role of moral identity. In the present study, we posit that people’s moral identity serves as a buffering factor between organizational injustice and CWB among Chinese public servants. Consistent with the hypotheses, survey results showed that organizational justice and moral identity interacted to influence Chinese public servants’ CWB. Specifically, when the moral identity of Chinese public servants was low, the negative correlation between organizational justice and CWB was more pronounced. Theoretical implications to the moral identity and organizational injustice literature are discussed, as well as the practical implications and suggestions for future research.