title: The Effect of Self-Esteem on Corrupt Intention: The Mediating Role of Materialism.
abstract: The present set of studies aimed to explore the effect of self-esteem on corrupt intention and the mediating role of materialism in generating this effect. In Study 1, we used questionnaires to investigate the correlation among self-esteem, materialism, and corrupt intention. In Study 2, we manipulated self-esteem to explore the causal effect of self-esteem on materialism and corrupt intention. In Study 3, we manipulated materialism to examine whether inducing materialism can reduce the relationship between self-esteem and corrupt intention. The three studies converged to show that increased self-esteem caused a low level of materialism, which in turn decreased corrupt intention. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xuyun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhenwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jianning
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wenwen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zheng
keywords: corrupt intention; materialism; psychological process; self-esteem; unethical behavior