The Impact of Predisposed Traits and Organizational Factors on the U.S. Federal Employee Perception of Whistleblowing

• Author: Yuan Ting,So Hee Jeon,Myungjung Kwon
• Published date: 01 June 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/0091026020938828
• Date: 01 June 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026020938828

Public Personnel Management

2021, Vol. 50(2) 258 –282

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0091026020938828

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Article

The Impact of Predisposed

Traits and Organizational

Factors on the U.S. Federal

Employee Perception of

Whistleblowing

Myungjung Kwon1, So Hee Jeon2,

and Yuan Ting1

Abstract

Whistleblowers play a critical role in revealing organizational wrongdoing. Even after

the passage of the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act and the 2012 Whistleblower

Protection Enhancement Act, numerous studies find that public employees are still

reluctant to report wrongdoing due to various forms of retaliation. Drawing on

insights from a framework of predisposition and environmental perspectives, this

study examines which type of factors—predisposed characteristics or organizational/

environmental factors—are more influential and consistent in increasing the

favorable perception of public employees about whistleblowing. To test the model,

this study uses multiple waves of data including the 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016

Federal Employee Viewpoint Surveys to perform agency-level analyses. The findings

suggest that organizational/environmental factors increase favorable federal employee

perception of whistleblowing over time while predisposed characteristics show

inconsistent influence.

Keywords

public whistleblowing, whistleblowing intention, predisposed traits, nurture factors,

information sharing, federal government

1California State University, Fullerton, CA, USA

2Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA

Corresponding Author:

Myungjung Kwon, Division of Politics, Administration and Justice, California State University, Fullerton,

800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92834, USA.

Email: mkwon@fullerton.edu

938828PPMXXX10.1177/0091026020938828Public Personnel ManagementKwon et al.

research-article2020

Kwon et al. 259

Introduction

One important research question regarding government whistleblowing is why public

employees blow the whistle in spite of the known risk of retaliation (Caillier & Sa,

2017; Chang et al., 2017; Cho & Song, 2015; Jos et al., 1989; Lavena, 2016; Lee, 2020;

Near & Miceli, 2008; Rothwell & Baldwin, 2006). Whistleblowing is a bottom-up

oversight for ensuring accountability in government that gives public employees the

opportunity to report wrongdoing in the organization (Klingner et al., 2010; Near &

Miceli, 2008). Yet, according to the Merit Principles Surveys (MPS) and Federal

Employee Viewpoint Surveys (FEVS), a large number of federal employees are reluc-

tant to disclose wrongdoing in their organization due to possible retaliation, and many

whistleblowers experienced retaliation or a threat of reprisal (Caillier & Sa, 2017;

Lavena, 2016), such as revealing the whistleblower’s identity, blacklisting, transferring,

demoting, or terminating (Bowman, 1980; Lee, 2020; Martin, 1996; Miethe, 1999;

Schwellenbach, 2019).

Given the risk of retaliation, numerous studies have examined what factors affect

individual perception and behavior regarding whistleblowing. A critical review of the

literature reveals that most studies on whistleblowing have focused on predisposed

characteristics (e.g., Cassematis & Wortley, 2013; Jos et al., 1989) or organizational

and environmental factors (e.g., Bashir et al., 2011; Caillier & Sa, 2017; Chang et al.,

2017; Jeon, 2017; Lavena, 2016; Lee, 2020; Near & Miceli, 2008; Rothwell &

Baldwin, 2006).

Whereas previous whistleblowing studies attempted to identify the determinants of

whistleblowing behavior or intention, including predisposed characteristics and orga-

nizational and environmental factors, few research studies have been done to examine

which type of factors —that is, predisposed characteristics or organizational/environ-

mental factors—is more influential in affecting public-sector whistleblowing. This

article aims to further the study of whistleblowing as an oversight system by examin-

ing “which type of factors—predisposed characteristics or organizational/environ-

mental factors—are more influential and consistent in increasing the favorable

perception of public employees about whistleblowing?” To address our research ques-

tion, this article develops and tests hypotheses by drawing on insights from the inte-

grative frameworks of previous whistleblowing literature, and heredity and

environment approaches—nature versus nurture factors (e.g., Bandura, 1977; Galton,

1892; Hager & Brudney, 2011).

Furthermore, most whistleblowing research has used individual-level measures

from single cross-sectional data to assess the effects of individual characteristics and/

or organizational/environmental factors on whistleblowing. This study seeks to bridge

this gap in the literature. To test the model, this study uses multiple years of survey

data and performs multiple-wave analyses where the independent variables precede

the dependent variable in time, which is significantly different from previous research.

By so doing, this study overcomes the limitations of cross-sectional analysis concern-

ing causality of relationships and endeavors to validate, clarify, and extend previous

research to better understand the relative impacts of predisposed characteristics and