Mapping the Socio-Cognitive Architecture of Workplace Dishonesty: A Theory-Informed Bibliometric Review of Selected Explanatory Mechanisms

Abstract

Research on dishonest behavior within organizational contexts has expanded rapidly in recent years. However, the structural organization of dominant explanatory mechanisms within this literature remains insufficiently clarified. This study provides a theory-informed bibliometric analysis focusing on a deliberately selective segment of the workplace dishonesty literature. Rather than attempting an exhaustive census, the study maps a corpus centered on dominant socio-cognitive and organizational explanatory frameworks in order to examine how these mechanisms are positioned, interconnected, and evolving within this theory-filtered segment. To ensure a transparent and reproducible review process, the study was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, which guided the identification, screening, and eligibility assessment of the literature. Drawing on a systematically constructed corpus retrieved from Web of Science and Scopus and covering the period 1989–2025, the bibliometric analysis was conducted using Biblioshiny 4.5.2 on a final dataset of 679 documents. The analysis integrates performance indicators with science-mapping techniques, including keyword co-occurrence networks, thematic mapping, multiple correspondence analysis, thematic evolution, and global citation analysis. The findings indicate that this theory-based subset of the literature has developed steadily over time alongside a clearer structuring of publication outlets. Conceptually, it remains largely organized around a small number of recurring mechanisms, most notably ethical climate and moral disengagement. Thematic analyses suggest a degree of theoretical stabilization alongside diversification within this selected corpus, while factorial mapping suggests recurring contrasts between cognitive, normative, and organizational explanatory logics. From a longitudinal dynamic perspective, the mapped patterns suggest a possible movement toward more context-sensitive and governance-oriented perspectives; however, this should be interpreted as an inferential reading of this selected corpus. Overall, the findings suggest that, within this corpus, unethical workplace behavior is increasingly conceptualized as a context-dependent socio-cognitive phenomenon shaped by justificatory mechanisms, organizational environments, and performance-related pressures. This review contributes to the fields of behavioral ethics and organizational behavior by providing a structured reading of this specific body of work, clarifying its conceptual organization, identifying its main developmental trajectories, and outlining a theoretically grounded future research agenda for this selected body of literature.