Whistleblowing: Antecedents and consequences

Whistleblowing is a phenomenon and a behaviour that seemingly is full of paradoxes. On one hand you can have workers who in good faith report wrongdoing. On the other hand whistleblowing can be associated with severe consequences on health. This situation exists while most societies probably would agree that they would like to end corruption and mismanagement at work. In order to disentangle this paradox and the phenomenon of whistleblowing, this article will introduce the research field and topic of whistleblowing by first (1) outlining the historical background for whistleblowing. Then (2) the term will be defined. Further (3), theoretical ways of understanding the whistleblowing phenomenon will be presented, before (4) empirical findings will be described. Finally (5) some implications for future research and practice will be delineated.