The relationship between social norm consensus, perceived similarity, and observer reactions to coworker theft
✍ Scribed by James M. Schmidtke
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2007
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 209 KB
- Volume
- 46
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0090-4848
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
This research examines observers' reactions to coworker theft in a restaurant chain. This study focuses on the role of social information, such as the social norm consensus regarding the specific type of theft behavior, and on the perceived similarity between the observer and the perpetrator. In general, observers are less likely to label coworkers' behavior as theft when social norm consensus is low and when they perceive the perpetrator as similar to themselves. Also, observers are less likely to report and more likely to imitate the theft behavior of similar coworkers as the amount of consensus regarding the type of theft decreases. Analyses indicate that the relationship between similarity, reporting, and imitation of theft behavior is not mediated by the labeling of an event as theft. Implications for employee theft research and human resource management practice are discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.