Rebecca J. Bennett

A TYPOLOGY OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIORS: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALING STUDY

In this study, we developed a typology of deviant workplace behaviors using multidimensional scaling techniques. Results suggest that deviant workplace behaviors vary along two dimensions: minor versus serious, and interpersonal versus organizational. On the basis of these two dimensions, employee deviance appears to fall into four distinct categories: production deviance, property deviance, political deviance, and personal aggression. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.

Development of a measure of workplace deviance

The purpose of this research was to develop broad, theoretically derived measure(s) of deviant behavior in the workplace. Two scales were developed: a 12-item scale of organizational deviance (deviant behaviors directly harmful to the organization) and a 7-item scale of interpersonal deviance (deviant behaviors directly harmful to other individuals within the organization). These scales were found to have internal reliabilities of .81 and .78, respectively. Confirmatory factor analysis verified that a 2-factor structure had acceptable fit. Preliminary evidence of construct validity is also provided. The implications of this instrument for future empirical research on workplace deviance are discussed.

Development of a global measure of job embeddedness and integration into a traditional model of voluntary turnover

Recent research on job embeddedness has found that both on- and off-the-job forces can act to bind people to their jobs. The present study extended this line of research by examining how job embeddedness may be integrated into a traditional model of voluntary turnover. This study also developed and tested a global, reflective measure of job embeddedness that overcomes important limitations and serves as a companion to the original composite measure. Results of this longitudinal study found that job embeddedness predicted voluntary turnover beyond job attitudes and core variables from traditional models of turnover. Results also found that job embeddedness interacted with job satisfaction to predict voluntary turnover, suggesting that the job embeddedness construct extends beyond the unfolding model of turnover (T. R. Mitchell & T. W. Lee, 2001) it originated from.

Leveraging fairness and reactance theories to deter reactive computer abuse following enhanced organisational information security policies: an empirical study of the influence of counterfactual reasoning and organisational trust

Research shows that organisational efforts to protect their information assets from employee security threats do not always reach their full potential and may actually encourage the behaviours they attempt to thwart, such as reactive computer abuse (CA). To better understand this dilemma, we use fairness theory (FT) and reactance theory (RT) to explain why employees may blame organisations for and retaliate against enhanced information security policies (ISPs). We tested our model with 553 working professionals and found support for most of it. Our results show that organisational trust can decrease reactive CA. FT suggests that explanation adequacy (EA) is an important factor that builds trust after an event. Our results also suggest that trust both fully mediates the relationship between EA and CA and partially mediates the relationship between perceived freedom restrictions related to enhanced ISPs and reactive CA. EA also had a strong negative relationship with freedom restrictions. Moreover, organisational security education, training and awareness (SETA) initiatives decreased the perceptions of external control and freedom restrictions and increased EA, and advance notification of changes increased EA. We also included 14 control variables and rival explanations to determine with more confidence what drove reactive CA in our context. Notably, the deterrence theory (DT)‐based constructs of sanction severity, certainty and celerity had no significant influence on reactive CA. We provide support for the importance of respectful communication efforts and SETA programmes, coupled with maximising employee rights and promoting trust and fairness to decrease reactive CA. These efforts can protect organisations from falling victim to their own organisational security efforts.

Team Emotional Intelligence and Team Interpersonal Process Effectiveness

In this exploratory study, the relationships between the emotional intelligence (EI) of self‐directed teams and two dimensions of team interpersonal process team task orientation and team maintenance function were investigated using the five dimensional model of emotional intelligence measured by the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ‐i®) in a sample of thirty‐three work teams. Average team emotional intelligence scores were calculated by aggregating the individual emotional intelligence scores of each team member and dividing the sum by the number of team members. Regression analyses of team averaged emotional intelligence across all five sub‐dimensions of the EQ‐i® reveal significant predictive relationships between team averaged interpersonal EI and Team Task Orientation (r =.37) and team averaged interpersonal EI and Team Maintenance Functions (r =.31). Team averaged interpersonal EI predicted 10 percent of the variance in Team Maintenance Function while team averaged interpersonal EI and team averaged general mood EI combined to predict 16 percent of the variance in Team Task Orientation. Directions for future research are presented.

An empirical test of forgiveness motives' effects on employees' health and well-being.

Two critical-incident studies were conducted to determine what motivates employees to forgive (or reconcile) with coworkers who offend them. Data from the first studys exploratory factor analysis revealed five types of motives for forgiveness: apology, moral, religious, relationship, and lack of alternatives. Data from the second study on a different sample confirmed the five-factor structure, and structural equation modeling demonstrated differential relationships between the five motives and the outcome variables, stress and health. Individuals who claimed to have forgiven because they believed they had no other alternatives, or who forgave because they believed a higher power (religious) required it, were more likely to report greater stress and poorer health. Positive outcomes of forgiveness were discovered for those employees who forgave because they believed it was the right (moral) thing to do. Those who forgave for moral reasons reported less stress than those who forgave because they believed they had no other choice or because a higher power demanded it. Forgiving for relationship and apology reasons was not significantly related to either stress or general health. Future research directions are discussed.

Exploring touch as a positive workplace behavior

Whereas most research has focused on the negative aspects of touch in the workplace (i.e. sexual harassment), this study focuses upon the positive use of touch. In an effort to explain individual differences in the use of workplace touch, three sequential studies are used to introduce the concepts of workplace touch self-efficacy and workplace touch initiation anxiety. In Study 1 we develop scales to assess the constructs. Study 2 provides an initial examination of the construct validity of the measures developed in Study 1. Results of Study 3 indicate that supervisor reports of touch self-efficacy and physiological touch anxiety are related to subordinate reports of supervisor touch. Additionally, results show that supervisor use of touch is related to several indicators of supervisor social effectiveness. Finally, sex of the supervisor appears to play a role in workplace touch as female supervisors report less touch anxiety, greater touch self-efficacy and more use of touch than male supervisors.

Job embeddedness: is it always a good thing?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the explanatory power of reactance theory and power dependence theory in predicting the moderating effect of job embeddedness on the organizational trust-workplace deviance relationship. Design/Methodology/Approach – Cross-sectional data were collected from a sample of nurses (n=353) via an online survey organization. The data were analyzed using hierarchical regression. Findings – Job embeddedness significantly moderated the organizational trust-workplace deviance relationship such that participants who experienced low organizational trust and high job embeddedness engaged in more workplace deviance than those experiencing low organizational trust and low job embeddedness. Practical implications – Organizations should attempt to build and maintain employees’ organizational trust since employees who lack organizational trust are more likely to act deviantly. Additionally, organizations should realize that job embeddedness is not always beneficial. Therefor...

Assessing the Role of Security Education, Training, and Awareness on Insiders' Security-Related Behavior: An Expectancy Theory Approach

Organizational success in the digital age is largely dependent upon the ability to collect, manage, and transfer proprietary information. Given this knowledge economy, it is no exaggeration to say that the protection of sensitive information is a top priority for most firms. However, achieving information security is complicated by the increased access to organizationally relevant information afforded to employees -- putting organizational information security largely at the mercy of insiders. Despite wide-spread agreement across industry and academia on the importance of security education, training, and awareness (SETA) programs, relatively little scholarship has been devoted to understanding the effectiveness of SETA on motivating security-related behaviors. Employing expectancy theory, we make a multi-dimensional assessment of the motivational influence of SETA on two disparate security-related behaviors (a proactive and an omissive behavior). We find that SETAs motivational influence on proactive and omissive behaviors works through distinct expectancy dimensions.