Public Employees' whistleblowing intention: Explanation by an adapted theory of planned behavior

Public employees' whistleblowing is an effective anti-corruption means because they can provide rigorous evidence of wrongdoing in public organizations. However, whistleblowing may cause risks to the individuals and their organization, which discourage them from reporting. While the topic has been understudied, a few studies have adopted the theory of planned behavior (TPB) from psychology to gain insights into whistleblowing. However, these studies have overlooked the unique characteristics of the public sector and the contextual factors surrounding whistleblowing. Our research aims to fill this gap by incorporating these missing elements into the theoretical framework and thus developing an adapted TPB. Using survey data from Taiwan, this study provides empirical evidence to support the adapted TPB in explaining the intention of public employees to blow the whistle.