Linking perceived market competition threat to moral disengagement: The roles of fear of failure and moral relativism

Drawing on moral disengagement theory, this study examined the interplay of perceived market competition threat, fear of failure, moral relativism, and moral disengagement. Perceived competitive threat was proposed to be positively related to moral disengagement, and fear of failure was proposed to mediate the relationship between perceived competitive threat and moral disengagement. Furthermore, moral relativism was anticipated to have a moderating effect on the direct and indirect relationships (via fear of failure) between perceived competitive threat and moral disengagement. The hypothesized relationships were examined using self-report survey data collected from 393 employees in the financial sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap analysis techniques were used to test the articulated hypotheses. The results were consistent with our proposed hypotheses. The findings offer theoretical and practical implications that are discussed at the end.