The Effects of Volunteerism on Self-Deception and Locus of Control

SMC Author

Naman Desai

Status

Faculty

School

School of Economics and Business Administration

Department

Accounting

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2018

Publication / Conference / Sponsorship

Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations

Description/Abstract

This study examines whether volunteering for not-for-profit Organizations (NPOs) which are involved in providing social welfare services and which actively promote sociobehavioral factors like social responsibility, leadership, and self-confidence among its volunteers, reduces an individual’s likelihood of engaging in corrupt practices. We identify two psychological traits: propensity to rationalize (as evidenced by self-deception) and an external locus of control (as compared to an internal LOC) that facilitate unethical behavior. With the help of volunteers from two NPOs, we investigate whether engaging in social welfare activities organized by such NPOs would create awareness about the adverse consequences of corruption faced by large segments of the society, which in turn would make it difficult to rationalize unethical and corrupt acts. Additionally, most NPOs actively strive to develop self-confidence and leadership skills among its volunteers. Prior literature indicates that individuals possessing such qualities are more likely to have an internal LOC and also that individuals possessing an internal LOC are less likely to act in a corrupt manner. The overall results indicate that greater experience with such NPOs leads to a significant reduction in propensity to rationalize and leads to a higher likelihood of having an internal LOC.

Keywords

Volunteerism, Social impact, Corruption, Locus of control, Self-deception

Scholarly

yes

Peer Reviewed

1

DOI

10.1007/s11266-017-9857-x

Volume

29

Issue

1

First Page

83

Last Page

92

Disciplines

Accounting | Business | Economics

Original Citation

Desai N.K., Dalal, S., & Rawal, S. (2018). The effects of volunteerism on self deception and locus of control. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 29(1), 83-92.

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