On whistleblowing judgment and intention : The roles of positive mood and organizational ethical culture

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose whistleblowing judgment (WBJ), positive mood (PM), and organizational ethical culture (OEC) as predictors of whistleblowing intention (WBI). Design/methodology/approach – The study obtains the data from 364 usable questionnaires collected from Chinese employees of ten banks in China. Findings – WBJ explains a high variance in WBI while OEC moderate the relationship. A three‐way interaction effect is observed, in which organizational culture affects the strength of PM as a moderator. Research limitations/implications – Findings are interpreted with respect to theories of moral psychology and organizational behavior. Theoretical implications and limitations of the study are discussed, including potential self‐report bias and self‐selection bias. Originality/value – The effect of PM on whistleblowing decision making depends on people's perceptions of OEC. Only when people perceive their organizational culture to be unethical do the effect of PM come into play.