Performance pressure is becoming prevalent among employees. While performance pressure is often viewed by managers as a strategy for enhancing productivity, it may also lead to dysfunctional and unethical behaviors. Previous studies have provided insights into the impacts of performance pressure on employees. However, the process through which employees behave unethically under performance pressure remains unclear. Our research addresses this question by investigating whether and when performance pressure influences individual work mindsets and behaviors from a moral perspective. Specifically, we hypothesize that performance pressure is related to employee expediency via moral decoupling. We further hypothesize dialectical thinking and moral identity to be the boundary conditions of the proposed relationships. Analyses of data collected from 229 employees in three waves support most of the hypotheses. Our research makes several contributions to the literature on performance pressure and unethical behavior.