The Southwest is familiar territory to David Welsh, who earned degrees at the University of Southern Utah, the University of Utah, and the University of Arizona. Professor Welsh's research focuses primarily on issues related to unethical behavior in the workplace and has been published in scholarly journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. His research has also been featured in mainstream media outlets, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, The Huffington Post, BBC News, and Psychology Today.
David has been recognized for his excellence in research and teaching. He received the Ascendant Scholar award from the Western Academy of Management in 2019 and the W. P. Carey Dean's Mid-Career Research award in 2022. His ethics research has also received the Outstanding Practical Implications for Management Paper award in 2021. In the classroom, he received the Professional MBA Faculty Excellence award in 2022. He also serves on multiple editorial boards and is an Associate Editor at Personnel Psychology.
Voice, helping, and organizational citizenship behavior
I am interested in a variety of topics related to unethical behavior in the workplace. My research often uses field studies, experiments, and experience sampling methodology (ESM) to investigate questions in these areas. More recently, my interests have expanded to include prosocial behaviors such as voice, helping, and organizational citizenship behavior.
One of the most rewarding aspects of my research has been the opportunity to work with many enthusiastic and engaged doctoral students at ASU. It has been amazing to see their hard work pay off with interesting publications and outstanding academic job opportunities. I currently serve on the PhD committee and also manage the Management Department Behavioral Lab. I'm always interested in connecting with motivated individuals with similar interests who are applying to doctoral programs so please feel free to reach out.
Publications
Campbell, E., Welsh, D.T., & Wang, W. (in press). Above the law? How motivated moral reasoning shapes evaluations of high performer unethicality. Journal of Applied Psychology.
Thiel, C.T., Bush, J.T., Bonner, J., Welsh, D.T., & Garud, N. (2023). Stripped of agency: The paradoxical effect of employee monitoring on deviance. Journal of Management, 49, 709-740.
Welsh, D.T., Outlaw, R., Newton, D., & Baer, M.D. (2022). The social aftershocks of voice: An investigation of employees’ affective and interpersonal reactions after speaking up. Academy of Management Journal, 6, 2034-2057.
Welsh, D.T., Baer, M.D., Kim, J., Thiel, C.E., & Smith, I. (2022). Desirable or deceitful? How social exchange dynamics shape responses to pro-coworker unethical behavior. Personnel Psychology, 75, 619-644.
Baer, M.D., Sessions, H., Welsh, D.T., & Matta, F.K. (2022) Motivated to “roll the dice” on trust: The relationships between employees’ daily motives, risk propensity, and trust. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107, 1561-1578.
Sessions, H., Nahrgang, J., Baer, M.D., & Welsh, D.T. (2022). From zero to hero…and back to zero: The consequences of status inconsistency between the work roles of multiple jobholders. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107, 1369-1384.
Bush, J.T., Baer, M.D., Welsh, D.T., Outlaw, R. Garud, N., & Sessions, H. (2022). To what do I owe this visit? The drawbacks and benefits of in-role and non-role intrusions. Journal of Management, 48, 1888-1917.
Mai, K.M., Welsh, D.T., Wang, F., Bush, J.T., & Jiang, K. (2022). Supporting creativity or creative unethicality? Empowering leadership and the role of performance pressure. Journal of Business Ethics, 179, 111-131.
Thiel, C.E., Bonner, J., Bush, J.T., & Welsh, D.T. (2021). Rationalize or reappraise? How envy and cognitive reappraisal shape unethical contagion. Personnel Psychology, 74, 237-263.
Bush, J.T., Welsh, D.T., Baer, M.D., & Waldman, D., (2021). Discouraging unethicality or encouraging ethicality? Unravelling the differential effects of prevention- and promotion-focused ethical leadership. Personnel Psychology, 74, 29-54.
Welsh, D.T., Baer, M., & Sessions, H. (2020). Hot pursuit: The affective consequences of organization-set versus self-set goals on emotional exhaustion and citizenship behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105, 166-185.
Welsh, D.T., Baer, M., Sessions, H., & Garud, N. (2020). Motivated to disengage: The ethical consequences of goal commitment and moral disengagement. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 41, 663-677.
Mai, K.M., Ellis, A.P.J., & Welsh, D.T. (2020). How perpetrator gender influences reactions to premeditated versus impulsive unethical behavior: A role congruity approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 166, 489-503.
Fehr, R., Welsh, D.T., Yam, K.C., Baer, M., Wei, W., & Vaulont, M. (2019). The role of moral decoupling in the causes and consequences of unethical pro-organizational behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 153, 27-40.
Welsh, D.T., Bush, J.T., Thiel, C., & Bonner, J. (2019). Reconceptualizing goal setting’s dark side: The ethical consequences of learning versus outcome goals. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 150, 14-27.
Thiel, C.E., Hardy, J., Peterson, D., Welsh, D.T. & Bonner, J. (2018). Too many sheep in the flock? Span of control attenuates the influence of ethical leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103, 1324-1334.
Baer, M., Matta, F., Kim, J., Welsh, D.T., & Garud, N. (2018). It’s not you, it’s them: Social influences on trust propensity and trust dynamics. Personnel Psychology, 71, 423-455.
Welsh, D.T., Mai, K.M., Ellis, A.P.J., & Christian, M.S. (2018). Overcoming the effects of sleep deprivation on unethical behavior: An extension of integrated self-control theory. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 76, 142-154.
Motro, D., Ordóñez, L.D., Pittarello, A., & Welsh, D.T. (2018). Investigating the effects of anger and guilt on unethical behavior: A dual-process approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 152, 133-148.
Welsh, D.T., Ordóñez, L.D., Snyder, D.G., & Christian, M.S. (2015). The slippery slope: How small ethical transgressions pave the way for larger future transgressions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100, 114-127.
Ordóñez, L.D., & Welsh, D.T. (2015). Immoral goals: How goal setting may lead to unethical behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology 6, 93-96.
Mai, K.M., Ellis, A.P.J., & Welsh, D.T., (2015). The gray side of creativity: Exploring the role of activation in the link between creative personality and unethical behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 60, 76-85.
Welsh, D.T., Ellis, A.P.J., Christian, M.S., & Mai, K.M. (2014). Building a self-regulatory model of sleep deprivation and deception: The role of caffeine and social influence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99, 1268-1277.
Welsh, D.T. & Ordóñez, L.D. (2014). Conscience without cognition: The effects of subconscious priming on ethical behavior. Academy of Management Journal, 57, 723-742.
Welsh, D.T. & Ordóñez, L.D. (2014). The dark side of consecutive high performance goals: Linking goal setting, depletion, and unethical behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 123, 79-89.
Podsakoff, N.P., Whiting, S.W., Welsh, D.T., & Mai, K.M. (2013). Surveying for artifacts: The susceptibility of the OCB-performance evaluation relationship to common rater, item, and measurement context effects. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98, 863-874.
