The role of moral disengagement in the relationship between envy and organizational deviance

Emotions are an important element in people's lives that shape their behavior. It is quite natural for emotions to arise in daily life and work life. However, the presence of negative emotions among employees is undesirable in organizations. This is because negative emotions have negative consequences for employees, their coworkers, and the organization. This situation has attracted the attention of researchers working in the field of management-organization and organizational behavior. Thus, many studies have been added to the literature on the effects of envy on employee behavior at the individual, managerial, and organizational levels. This study was conducted due to the limited number of studies investigating envy and its negative effects, particularly in Türkiye. In this context, it was considered that envy among employees could have an impact on organizational deviance (both in terms of how they evaluate themselves and how they evaluate their colleagues) and that moral disengagement could play a mediating role in this impact. The variables in question were examined using the developed research model and hypotheses. Data were collected through face-to-face surveys from 582 employees working at deposit banks in the TR 41 Region. The data obtained was analyzed and interpreted using variance, correlation, and regression analyses. The findings showed that envy has a significant and positive relationship with both organizational deviance and moral disengagement when evaluating themselves and their coworkers, and that moral disengagement has a significant and positive relationship with organizational deviance when evaluating both themselves and their coworkers. Moral disengagement was found to be a full mediator in the relationship between envy and organizational deviance (self-reported), and a partial mediator in the relationship between envy and organizational deviance (reported by coworkers). Organizational deviance (self-reported) and moral disengagement differed in terms of gender. Finally, it was found that organizational deviance (reported by coworkers) and moral disengagement differed according to the capital structure of the banks where the participants worked.