Perceptions of Ethical Misconduct Scale (PEMS)

Description

The Perceptions of Ethical Misconduct Scale (PEMS; Mendez-Meggison, Jackson, & Hein, 2025) is designed to evaluate perceptions of ethical misconduct in the workplace. The original 60-item PEMS was developed to capture a broad range of unethical behaviors observed in organizational settings. The scale is based on a 2014 report by the Ethics and Compliance Initiative, which identified 28 commonly observed unethical behaviors through a survey of U.S. workers. The PEMS items are designed to be applicable across various organizational contexts. The measure was administered to samples from a large Midwestern university, a large Southeastern university, and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Factor analysis resulted in a final 16-item single-factor structure. Results concerning reliability and validity were reported.

Purpose

The PEMS assesses ethical misconduct that occurs at work.

Instrument

Test Type: Original.
Instrument Type: Rating Scale.
Format: Responses are chosen from a seven-point Likert scale.
Language Available: English.
Language Present: English.
Population Group: Human; Male; Female.
Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs & older); Young Adulthood (18-29 yrs); Thirties (30-39 yrs); Middle Age (40-64 yrs); Aged (65 yrs & older).
Population Details:

• Age Range: 20-74

• Location: United States

• Respondents: University Students; Amazon Mechanical Turk Participants
  Test Methodology: Test Validity; Concurrent Validity; Construct Validity; Criterion Validity; Test Reliability; Internal Consistency; Factor Analysis; Confirmatory Factor Analysis; Exploratory Factor Analysis
  Administration Method: Electronic.
  Test Items Available: Yes.
  Number of Items: 16

Validity

Construct validity is supported by the results of the factor analysis. Concurrent criterion-related validity was demonstrated by a significant positive correlation between the PEMS and the Dirty Dozen scale (DD; Jonason & Webster, 2010) and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs), as measured by the Interpersonal and Organization Deviance Scale (IODS; Bennett & Robinson, 2000). The results also indicated that the PEMS mediates the relationship between psychopathy and CWBs.

Reliability

Internal consistency: Cronbach’s α ranged from .63-.97 among the datasets.

Factor Analysis

Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analysis: EFA yielded a 1-factor solution and explained 57% of the variance. During CFA, the PEMS had a moderate model fit, RMSEA = .11, CFI = .91, GFI = .86, and a significant chi-square test χ2 (100) = 699.07, p < .001.

Keywords

Employee Perceptions; Ethical/Unethical Behaviors; Perceptions of Ethical Misconduct; Employee Attitudes; Organizational Behavior; Business Ethics; Organizational and Occupational Measures

Authors

Mendez-Meggison, Andrea C.
Jackson, Alexander T.
Hein, Michael B.

Affiliation:
Mendez-Meggison, Andrea C.: Middle Tennessee State University, Industrial Organization Psychology
Jackson, Alexander T.: Middle Tennessee State University, Industrial Organization Psychology
Hein, Michael B.: Middle Tennessee State University, Industrial Organization Psychology

Email:
Mendez-Meggison, Andrea C.: [email protected]

Files:
No data is Available

Correspondence Address:
Mendez-Meggison, Andrea C.: Middle Tennessee State University, Industrial Organization Psychology, 45 Powder Mill Road, Sudbury, Massachusetts, United States, 01776, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Commercial: No
Fee: No
Permissions: Contact Publisher
Test Year: 2025

References

Mendez-Meggison, A. C., Jackson, A. T., & Hein, M. B. (2025). Perceptions of Ethical Misconduct Scale development. Ethics & Behavior, 35(1), 13–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2024.2306125
Jonason, P. K., & Webster, G. D. (2010). The Dirty Dozen: A concise measure of the Dark Triad. Psychological Assessment, 22(2), 420–432.
Bennett, R. J., & Robinson, S. L. (2000). Development of a measure of workplace deviance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(3), 349–360.

Items of the Perceptions of Ethical Misconduct Scale (PEMS)

Instructions: Below is a list of work-related behaviors. Please rate the extent to which you feel each behavior is unethical or ethical.

Response Scale:

1. Very unethical

2. Moderately unethical

3. Slightly unethical

4. Neither ethical nor unethical

5. Slightly ethical

6. Moderately ethical

7. Very ethical

Final Items:

1. Insulting a supervisor

2. Making jokes about age at work

3. Lying to customers to make a sale

4. Stretching the truth with customers

5. Having a beer at work

6. Smoking marijuana before work

7. Taking items from work

8. Lying on a timesheet

9. Lying to get a benefit offered by my company

10. Knowingly providing bad service to customers

11. Telling people about customers’ personal information

12. Discussing customers’ personal information with friends

13. Accepting gifts from clients

14. Offering gifts to persuade suppliers

15. Offering gifts to persuade clients

16. Having conflicts of interest at work

Original Items:

1. Lying to a coworker

2. Lying to a supervisor

3. Lying to a subordinate

4. Insulting a coworker

5. Insulting a supervisor

6. Insulting a subordinate

7. Using the internet at work to access social media websites

8. Making non-work-related purchases on the internet at work

9. Looking at pornography at work

10. Making jokes about race at work

11. Making sexual jokes at work

12. Making jokes about age at work

13. Making jokes about a coworker at work

14. Cutting corners on the job to be more efficient

15. Fudging the hours worked

16. Lying to customers to make a sale

17. Stretching the truth with customers

18. Getting someone back for wrongdoings

19. Not wearing all of the required safety equipment

20. Not following all of the safety regulations

21. Excluding someone from a work-related event because of their race

22. Excluding someone from a work-related event because of their sex

23. Excluding someone from a work-related event because of their sexual orientation

24. Excluding someone from a work-related event because of their ethnicity

25. Excluding someone from a work-related event because of their age

26. Having a beer at work

27. Having a cocktail at work

28. Going to work drunk

29. Smoking marijuana before work

30. Smoking marijuana at work

31. Doing drugs before work

32. Doing drugs at work

33. Taking office supplies from work

34. Taking items from work

35. Taking food from work

36. Lying on a timesheet

37. Lying to get a benefit offered by my company

38. Abusing other workers

39. Stretching hours to get overtime

40. Intentionally not performing well at work

41. Withholding effort at work

42. Knowingly providing bad service to customers

43. Having sex with coworkers

44. Having sex with subordinates

45. Having sex with supervisors

46. Using sex to get ahead at work

47. Manipulating coworkers with sex

48. Telling people about customers’ personal information

49. Discussing customers’ personal information with friends

50. Discussing customers’ personal information with family

51. Fudging company records

52. Fudging company invoices

53. Fudging sales numbers

54. Accepting gifts from customers

55. Accepting gifts from suppliers

56. Accepting gifts from clients

57. Offering gifts to persuade customers

58. Offering gifts to persuade suppliers

59. Offering gifts to persuade clients

60. Having conflicts of interest at work