Understanding the drivers of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults: A systematic review

Authors

  • Tengku Intan Nabilah Tengku Sulaiman Faculty of Industrial Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah, 26300 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
  • Fatimah Mahmud Faculty of Industrial Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah, 26300 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
  • Hasnah Haron Islamic Finance and Wealth Management Institute, Faculty of Economics and Muamalat, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
  • Retno Dewanti Binus Business School, Binus University. Jl.Kebun jeruk raya no 27. West Jakarta, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15282/jgi.8.1.2025.12006

Keywords:

Unethical behaviour intention, Personal motivation, Social and environmental influences, Control and capability, Working young adults, Systematic literature review

Abstract

This paper reviews the factors influencing unethical behaviour intention among working young adults. Unethical behaviour among working young adults poses a significant challenge in today's society, as these individuals represent the future leaders of our world. The values of ethics and integrity among working young adults must be nurtured to produce a Malaysia Madani aimed at leading the country forward. Current literature shows that unethical behaviour intention is influenced by various antecedents such as greed, peer influence, parental influence, capability, and financial pressure. Initially, this review focused on these five factors. Due to the limited number of studies meeting these criteria, the scope was broadened to include personal motivations, social and environmental influences, situational pressure, and control and capability. This paper systematically reviews past studies to comprehensively understand factors influencing unethical behaviour intention. For this study, the authors examined databases such as Scopus and Google Scholar to select related articles. All the related articles were subjected to a thorough and systematic quantitative review and content analysis. The present study provides valuable insights for working young adults and offers practical implications to address the factors influencing unethical behaviour intention. Essentially, the results of this study using a systematic literature review, provide a complete summary of antecedents influencing unethical behaviour intention. This topic should be researched further in the future.

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Published

2025-07-30

How to Cite

Tengku Sulaiman, T. I. N., Mahmud, F., Haron, H., & Dewanti, R. (2025). Understanding the drivers of unethical behaviour intention among working young adults: A systematic review. Journal of Governance and Integrity, 8(1), 907-916. https://doi.org/10.15282/jgi.8.1.2025.12006

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