Which Civil Servants Stay Ethical? The Psychology of Corruption

Why are some civil servants more committed to professional norms than others? Using a rich and underexplored survey panel from 22 European countries and their sub-national regions, I examine how individual psychological characteristics interact with varying levels of corruption to shape civil servants’ ethical attitudes. Drawing on measures from the Big Five Model of Personality, I argue that the same personality trait can lead to different, even opposing, ethical outcomes depending on the institutional context. While certain personality traits are more prone to corruption—only certain institutional contexts permit such personalities to engage in corrupt behavior. In contrast, traits less susceptible to corruption may exhibit strengthened resistance in the same environment. By linking micro-level psychological factors to wider institutional contexts, these findings advance our understanding of the conditions that foster and undermine ethical behavior within the administrative state.