The study of corruption phobia in the context of the dialogue between government and society: empirical results

Aim. The article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of corruption phobia among state and municipal employees in the context of the relationship between the state and society. The methodological purpose of the study was the primary validation and (verification of reliability, as well as constructive and convergent validity) and adaptation of an original questionnaire of corruption phobia on a sample of civil servants engaged in combating corruption.
Methodology. The study involved 83 active civil servants engaged in combating corruption in executive authorities (average age is 45.65years; 77.1% of men and 22.9% of women). As the main tool for the study of corruption phobia, an original questionnaire, containing 23 statements with which the respondents were asked to express their degree of agreement on the R. Likert scale, was used. A 5-point corruption awareness questionnaire was used to verify the convergent validity of the corruption phobia questionnaire. In the search for personal determinants of corruption phobia, the 16-point questionnaire “Orientation to Social Dominance” (OSD), which underwent primary adaptation, and a short version of the questionnaire of the dark triad in adaptation by Egorova et al.
Results. The results of the exploratory factor analysis of the data from the study of corruption phobia allowed us to identify 5 factors: 1) the humanitarian costs of fighting corruption; 2) corruption-optimism; 3) reducing the initiative of officials; 4) faith in the power of laws in the fight against corruption and 5) simulation of activity and caution. All the scale factors showed an acceptable level of reliability in terms of internal consistency. During the verification of convergent validity, explicable relationships between the scales of the questionnaire of corruption phobia and the indicators of the questionnaire of orientation to social dominance were found, and correlations of corruption phobia with manifestations of two parameters of the dark triad (Machiavellianism and psychopathy) were also revealed. Russian population is more pessimistic than government officials, assessing the prevalence of corruption in society and the degree of anti-corruption resistance of human nature in its temptation by a corrupt environment. Officials who live in the provinces are more confident that the fight against corruption in Russia is systemic than those who live in megacities. Younger respondents (probably less experienced) are more confident that the majority of Russian corrupt officials have been punished as they deserve. Older civil servants believe that the fight against corruption in Russia forces officials not to take unnecessary initiative and often makes them callous and callous towards people’s problems. Atheistic officials are more confident that the fight against corruption makes officials closed people, as well as that the fight against corruption in Russia leads to a weakening of the initiative of civil servants. Respondents with a low subjective income level are more confident that countering corruption in Russia makes officials want to work more effectively, as well as that the fight against corruption in Russia is systemic. The analysis of correlations between corruption phobia and attitudes towards social dominance showed that respondents who believe that anti-corruption in Russia is being conducted effectively are significantly more likely to advocate egalitarianism, and support for the accusation of officials that they, against the background of the fight against corruption, tend to refuse non-standard requests of the population is significantly related to the idea of rivalry (competition parameter). Machiavellianism and subclinical psychopathy manifested themselves in positive relationships with signs of the “factor of the humanitarian costs of corruption phobia”, which lead officials to ignore the requests of the population (they can make them closed, soulless and callous towards people’s problems; often turn their activities into campaigning, interfering with the implementation of real assistance to the population; mask the interests of individual officials by fighting corruption or their departments). Narcissism turned out to be unrelated to manifestations of corruption phobia.
Research implications. The theoretical significance of the work consists in the further development of the concept of “corruption phobia” based on the empirical material obtained and the relationship of the phenomenon with social dominance and components of the dark triad of personality. The practical significance of the study lies primarily in the fact that the “Questionnaire of corruption phobia” can be a useful tool in the diagnostic arsenal for the study of officials by such specialists as certified psychologists, HR managers with psychological education and graduates of educational programs “Psychology of official activity”.

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