Determinants of deviance in the workplace : an empirical examination in Canada and Mexico

Workplace deviance is becoming an increasingly important issue for organizations. Destructive deviant behaviors, such as theft, workplace aggression, and sabotage, can result in substantial economic and social costs for organizations. To date, employee deviance has generally been conceptualized as destructive. While deviant behavior may be harmful, employee deviance can be constructive and functional as well. Employees who engage in constructive deviance, such as innovative behaviors, can provide organizations with necessary creativity. Despite the importance of understanding employee deviance, little is known on the determinants of employee deviant behavior. In this study, the determinants of both destructive and constructive deviance were investigated. The relationship between deviance and individual, job, organizational, and cultural factors were examined. Furthermore, it was proposed that the extent to which people feel confident in performing their roles would have an impact on the relationship between job factors and workplace deviance. It was hypothesized that role breadth self-efficacy (RBSE) both moderates and mediates the relationship between job autonomy and deviant behavior. The hypotheses were tested using a total sample of employees (N = 668) from two organizations in Canada (n = 240) and three organizations in Mexico (n = 428). While self-reports of the employee were used as the primary source of data, the co-workers' perspective was also utilized to complement the research findings. The results of the study generally show support for the hypotheses relating to individual, job, and organizational factors. While RBSE mediated the relationship between job autonomy and innovative organizational constructive deviance in the total sample, the mediation model for destructive deviance was not supported. Similarly, the results suggested that RBSE moderated the relationship between job autonomy and constructive deviance but not destructive deviance in the total sample. While many of the hypothesized relationships were similar across cultures, country-specific differences in Canada and Mexico were also observed. By identifying the major factors relating to employee deviance, this study attempted to increase our understanding of the determinants of both destructive and constructive deviance. The findings can provide managers with new insights in finding ways to prevent destructive deviant behaviors, such as petty theft, and to enhance constructive deviant behaviors, such as role innovation. Future research directions are also discussed