Cultural currents and ethical reporting: national cultural boundary conditions for organizational antecedents of whistleblowing intentions
Rene ArseneaultPurpose
Whistleblowing is a critical mechanism for promoting organizational accountability and ethical governance, yet employees’ willingness to report wrongdoing varies across organizational and national contexts. This study aims to examine how job satisfaction, psychological safety, organizational culture and national cultural values influence internal whistleblowing intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were collected from 1,090 employees across five countries (USA, Canada, Australia, France and Brazil). Regression and cross-national moderation analyses were conducted to examine the effects of psychological, organizational and cultural factors on internal whistleblowing intentions.
Findings
Job satisfaction and psychological safety emerged as strong and consistent predictors of internal whistleblowing intentions across all countries. Organizational culture dimensions exhibited substantially weaker explanatory power once these psychological factors were considered. Among the national cultural dimensions examined, power distance was the only significant moderator, weakening the positive relationship between job satisfaction and whistleblowing intentions. Institutional collectivism and uncertainty avoidance did not significantly moderate reporting intentions. Significant cross-national differences were also observed, with employees in the USA reporting the highest whistleblowing intentions and employees in France reporting the lowest.
Practical implications
Organizations seeking to strengthen ethical reporting systems should prioritize fostering psychological safety, positive employee experiences and reporting environments that reduce hierarchical barriers.
Originality/value
The findings suggest that internal whistleblowing intentions are driven primarily by employees’ immediate psychological experiences, whereas organizational and cultural influences operate mainly as contextual conditions. Exploratory analyses suggest that power distance may act as a cultural boundary condition that weakens the relationship between job satisfaction and whistleblowing intentions.