From Good Citizens to Bad Apples? The Effect of Boredom Proneness: A Moral Licensing Perspective

Abstract

Although boredom proneness has been well-studied, there is still an ongoing scholarly debate about whether boredom can move individuals to act counterproductively or productively. Drawing from a moral licensing perspective, this study empirically investigates how boredom proneness influences interpersonal citizenship behavior (ICB), moral meaningfulness, and interpersonal deviance over time. Utilizing a total of 328 three-wave panel data obtained via Amazon Mechanical Turk during a three-month period, we find the following results. First, individuals with a higher initial level of boredom proneness demonstrate a higher initial level of ICB. Second, as boredom proneness increases at a faster rate, ICB increases at a faster rate over time. Third, individuals with a higher initial level of ICB report a higher initial level of moral meaningfulness. Finally, individuals with a higher initial level of moral meaningfulness exhibit a higher initial level of interpersonal deviance. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Keywords: Boredom proneness; interpersonal citizenship behavior; interpersonal deviance; moral licensing; moral meaningfulness.