Blowing the Whistle: Individual Persuasion under Perceived Threat of Retaliation

• In Event: Ethical Behavior

Abstract

The effectiveness of the whistle-blower as a control against misconduct and fraud is dependent on the willingness of the employee to report wrongdoings to the appropriate party. However, there is concern that any perceived threat of retaliation will hinder one’s willingness to blow the whistle. The objective of this study is to examine whether the employee, even under threat of retaliation, can be persuaded to change their attitudes toward blowing the whistle and, in turn, intent to blow the whistle. The Elaboration Likelihood Model is used as the theoretical lens to investigate whether attitude change toward whistleblowing can occur and under what conditions change occurs. This experimental study provides evidence that persuasive messages can change employee attitude toward whistle-blowing but that this change is most pronounced when positively-framed messages (versus negatively-framed messages) are presented to the employee who perceives a high threat of retaliation and finds the messages are relevant.

Author

• Randall F Young, Texas State University