내적 자원감이 내부고발자 보호·지원 인식에 미치는 영향: 내부고발자에 대한 부정인식의 매개효과와 기관 신뢰도의 조절효과 분석을 중심으로

This study examines how personal internal resourcefulness influences organizational members' perceptions of protection and support for whistleblowers. It explores the mediating effect of their negative perceptions of whistleblowers and analyzes how the direct and indirect effects are moderated by the level of trust they have in institutions handling whistleblowing cases. Data were collected from a survey of 562 adults, who were dichotomized into high- and low-trust groups. The key findings are as follows: First, the positive relationship between internal resourcefulness and awareness of protection and support for whistleblowers only emerged when institutional trust was high. Second, when institutional trust was low, higher resourcefulness led to fewer negative perceptions of whistleblowers, whereas in high-trust settings, it unexpectedly increased negative perceptions. Third, fewer negative perceptions of whistleblowers were associated with higher awareness in both groups. Fourth, negative perception partially mediated the relationship between resourcefulness and awareness in the low-trust group, but fully mediated it in the high-trust group. These findings suggest that reducing the negative perceptions of whistleblowers and enhancing employee internal resourcefulness are crucial for improving organizational awareness, and that practical strategies should reflect the level of trust in whistleblower-handling institutions.