A trait activation theory lens on hospitality employees’ ethicality at work: Unveiling the dark side of error tolerance

While literature on ethicality among hospitality employees is emerging, understanding the context within which individuals choose to behave ethically or unethically is still in its infancy. Taking a holistic “person-environment” view, this paper draws upon the trait activation theory (TAT) to examine the impact of Machiavellianism as an individual disposition on employees’ moral disengagement as well as ethicality-related behaviors, contingent on perceived error tolerance at work. The results from multi-wave and multi-source data collected among employees in fine dining rooms reveal that employees high on Machiavellianism are more likely to be morally disengaged when they perceive a higher level of error tolerance. Furthermore, this moral disengagement subsequently results in creative unethical behavior but lessens rule compliance. Implications for business practices are provided, along with suggested directions for future research.