The role of personality in whistleblowing: An integrative framework

People differ in the way they respond to perceived immoral or illegal activities within their organization. One possible response in such situations is whistleblowing. Empirical research, however, shows that many individuals who observe questionable organizational practices refrain from blowing the whistle. Although previous studies have identified certain personality traits that may predict whistleblowing, we currently lack a thorough theoretical understanding of the dispositional basis of whistleblowing. To close this gap, we (1) organize the whistleblowing decision along four phases, (2) identify situational characteristics present in each of these phases, and (3) derive hypotheses regarding the effects of broad personality dimensions (i.e., Big Five/FFM and HEXACO dimensions) and narrow personality traits on whistleblowing based on these situational characteristics. We hope that this framework contributes to a more holistic understanding of how personality shapes the whistleblowing decision-making process and stimulates systematic research on the nexus of personality and whistleblowing.