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Deterrence in the workplace: perceived certainty, perceived severity, and employee theft
Social Forces; a Scientific Medium of Social Study and Interpretation
|November 7, 1983
Summary
Employee theft is reduced when employees perceive organizational sanctions as certain and severe. Younger employees are less deterred by punishment certainty and severity compared to older workers.
Area of Science:
- Criminology
- Organizational Behavior
- Psychology
Background:
- Employee theft is a significant organizational problem.
- Deterrence theory suggests sanctions reduce undesirable behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To empirically examine employee theft using a deterrence paradigm.
- To investigate the relationship between perceived organizational sanctions and employee theft.
Main Methods:
- Random sampling of employees across three industry sectors and metropolitan areas.
- Self-reported data on property theft activities within the employment setting.
- Weighted least-squares logit regression analysis.
Main Results:
- Perceived certainty and severity of organizational sanctions are related to employee theft.
- Males reported more theft than females, with no significant gender/sanction interactions.
- Significant age/certainty and age/severity interactions indicate younger employees are less deterrable.
Conclusions:
- Organizational sanctions can deter employee theft, but effectiveness varies by age.
- Younger employees may require different deterrence strategies due to lower deterrability.
- A commitment to conformity explanation is proposed for age-related differences in deterrence.