Antecedents of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the relationship between attitude (greed), subjective norms (parental influence, peer influence), and perceived behavioural control (financial pressure, capability) towards intention to perform unethical behaviour amongst working young adults in the Malaysian...

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Main Authors: Tengku Intan Nabilah, Tenku Sulaiman, Fatimah, Mahmud, Hasnah, Haron
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: GBMR 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44739/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44739/1/Antecedents%20of%20Unethical%20Behaviour.pdf
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author Tengku Intan Nabilah, Tenku Sulaiman
Fatimah, Mahmud
Hasnah, Haron
author_facet Tengku Intan Nabilah, Tenku Sulaiman
Fatimah, Mahmud
Hasnah, Haron
author_sort Tengku Intan Nabilah, Tenku Sulaiman
building UMP Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Purpose: This study aims to investigate the relationship between attitude (greed), subjective norms (parental influence, peer influence), and perceived behavioural control (financial pressure, capability) towards intention to perform unethical behaviour amongst working young adults in the Malaysian local authority. Design/methodology/approach: A self-completed questionnaire was designed and distributed to working young adults in Malaysian local authorities between the ages of 21 and 40 years old to obtain the research data. Data was gathered from 208 eligible respondents and was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the PLS-SEM technique to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings: Results from the analysis revealed that parental influences and peer influences have a significant relationship towards intention to perform unethical behaviour. The present study provides valuable insights for working young adults and Malaysian Local Authorities, offering practical implications to address the factors influencing unethical behaviour intention. Research limitations/Implications: The research design of this study only focuses on quantitative data, where the quantitative results can lead to general findings, whereas this study lacks in-depth findings. Practical implications: The findings of this study will highlight the role of working young adults as future leaders. Consequently, it is important for working young adults to have the right attitude and avoid unethical behaviour by educating them the awareness on the intention to perform unethical behaviour. Originality/value: This study developed a common ethical scenario to measure unethical behaviour amongst working young adults based on the definition of unethical behaviour applicable in Malaysia. The framework was underpinned by the integration of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and fraud diamond theory (FDT).
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institution Universiti Malaysia Pahang
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language English
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spelling ump-447392025-06-06T03:37:02Z http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44739/ Antecedents of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults Tengku Intan Nabilah, Tenku Sulaiman Fatimah, Mahmud Hasnah, Haron HD28 Management. Industrial Management Purpose: This study aims to investigate the relationship between attitude (greed), subjective norms (parental influence, peer influence), and perceived behavioural control (financial pressure, capability) towards intention to perform unethical behaviour amongst working young adults in the Malaysian local authority. Design/methodology/approach: A self-completed questionnaire was designed and distributed to working young adults in Malaysian local authorities between the ages of 21 and 40 years old to obtain the research data. Data was gathered from 208 eligible respondents and was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the PLS-SEM technique to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings: Results from the analysis revealed that parental influences and peer influences have a significant relationship towards intention to perform unethical behaviour. The present study provides valuable insights for working young adults and Malaysian Local Authorities, offering practical implications to address the factors influencing unethical behaviour intention. Research limitations/Implications: The research design of this study only focuses on quantitative data, where the quantitative results can lead to general findings, whereas this study lacks in-depth findings. Practical implications: The findings of this study will highlight the role of working young adults as future leaders. Consequently, it is important for working young adults to have the right attitude and avoid unethical behaviour by educating them the awareness on the intention to perform unethical behaviour. Originality/value: This study developed a common ethical scenario to measure unethical behaviour amongst working young adults based on the definition of unethical behaviour applicable in Malaysia. The framework was underpinned by the integration of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and fraud diamond theory (FDT). GBMR 2025 Article PeerReviewed pdf en http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44739/1/Antecedents%20of%20Unethical%20Behaviour.pdf Tengku Intan Nabilah, Tenku Sulaiman and Fatimah, Mahmud and Hasnah, Haron (2025) Antecedents of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults. Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal, 17 (1). pp. 261-273. ISSN 1947-5667. (Published) https://www.gbmrjournal.com/pdf/v17n1/V17N1-18.pdf
spellingShingle HD28 Management. Industrial Management
Tengku Intan Nabilah, Tenku Sulaiman
Fatimah, Mahmud
Hasnah, Haron
Antecedents of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults
title Antecedents of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults
title_full Antecedents of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults
title_fullStr Antecedents of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults
title_full_unstemmed Antecedents of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults
title_short Antecedents of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults
title_sort antecedents of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults
topic HD28 Management. Industrial Management
url http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44739/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44739/
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/44739/1/Antecedents%20of%20Unethical%20Behaviour.pdf