Organizational Psychology

Purpose. The article is devoted to a theoretical and empirical study of the psychologicalaspects of corrupt behavior of public servants. The study aims to identify differences in corruption and corrupt behavior among public servants with different income levels, explaining the meaning of appeal to such behavior. Methodology. The interview method and the semantic differential method were used for data collection. Cluster and factor analysis were used for statistical data processing. The sample consisted of 50 people aged 23 to 70 years who have or had experience working in government agencies (in the areas of: administrative civil servants, health workers, traffic police inspectors, etc.). Respondents were divided into two groups: the first group — with wages above the average level, the second group — below the average. Findings. The perceptions of government officials about the phenomenon of “corruption” are mixed. High-level civil servants believe that there are situations when giving a bribe is a “matter of honor”, it is not condemned, but rather encouraged in certain circles, and is perceived as one of the acceptable formats for business interaction. Corruption behavior acts as ameans of saving time, acts as one of the usual ways to resolve business issues and is part of business relationships. For low-wage civil servants, perceptions of corruption are allowed if it is encouraged (from the state structure itself), or not openly prohibited, or forced into it. Thus, the most important factors of corrupt behavior, such as the presence of an assessment by others and the admissibility of encouragement by management, can be identified. The study found that the perceptions of thephenomenon of “corruption” and “corrupt behavior” are different among public servants with lowand high wages. Consequently, approaches to work on the prevention of corruption by public servants should be specific depending on the income level of employees — taking into account the peculiaritiesof their ideas about corruption. Value of the results. Studies of the phenomenon of “corruption” and “corrupt behavior” in the field of psychology are few, most often they investigate the legal aspect. The study revealed a general idea of corruption and corrupt behavior among public servants, thus highlighting the psychological aspect of this phenomenon.