Powerlessness Versus Moral Hypocrisy: An Evaluating Observation of Modern Organization

Description

Arpan Das and Rooprekha Baksi (Amity Institute of Psychology & Allied Sciences, Amity University Kolkata, West Bengal)

It is to explore the psychological relationship between Powerlessness and Moral Hypocrisy in organisations. Questions asked whether working professionals who experience powerlessness will eventually cope with their lack of agency through moral hypocrisy. This research draws inspiration from other valuable works in psychology and forms twelve variables to understand the bounds of powerlessness and moral hypocrisy. Out of which seven variables help us measure powerlessness and rest assures us to understand moral hypocrisy. These variables include perceived locus of control, learned helplessness, status incongruence, affect regulation, resource dependency, social dominance orientation, compensatory defiance, cognitive dissonance reduction, moral licensing, actor observer bias, selective rule enforcement and moral condemnation. We used a 13-item questionnaire to perform a qualitative study with 40 participants from various sectors. To analyse the recurring themes in the answers they provided is the content analysis method. This revealed that participants often felt diminished control and often felt invisible in an unfair system. These feelings were often the root cause of unethical behaviour or a lack of moral compass, which was a psychological adaptation to disempowerment. It concludes that powerlessness fosters moral disengagement from other people and justifies their own actions to feel better about themselves which projects inconsistent ethical standards on others while they stay stranded from other people who exercise power. The findings are facilitative for understanding how disempowerment leads to ethical contradictions.