Joining in, Blowing the Whistle, or Intervening: Examining the Effects of Severity and Organizational Identification on Fraternity/Sorority Members’ Responses to Hazing

Abstract

Hazing, a form of organizational wrongdoing endemic to fraternities and sororities, persists on college campuses, often resulting in deleterious outcomes. To better understand organizational members’ responses to hazing, we considered the influence of members’ organizational identification and the severity of the hazing situation on three response options: participating, whistle-blowing, and intervening. Members of fraternities and sororities (N = 243) were randomly assigned to read one scenario in which hazing severity was manipulated and then asked to complete a questionnaire containing measures of organizational identification and hazing response options. Hazing severity influenced two of the three outcomes. As the hazing event became more severe, willingness to participate decreased and motivation to blow the whistle increased. Hazing severity also moderated relationships between organizational identification and the three response options. When severity was low, organizational identification was positively associated with willingness to participate and negatively associated with intentions to whistle-blow and motivation to stop the activity. The results are discussed in terms of reducing hazing through education, training, and culture change.