Abstract
Counterproductive Workplace Behaviour (CWB) is investigated in Organisational Psychology as well as in the area of Human Factors. So far, each of these disciplines has mostly disregarded findings by the other. The present studies integrate findings gained from the two disciplines to investigate the qualities of personality traits that predict safety-related rule violations in a production context. A pilot study was conducted to test a set of personality traits in terms of their predictive qualities regarding the intention to violate a rule. Three traits (integrity subscale: cautiousness, self-interest, injustice sensitivity) emerged as predictors and were applied in a business simulation of a production environment (main study). Cautiousness turned out to be significantly correlated with safety-related rule violations in the production context. Hence, cautiousness should be measured in personnel selection in order to enhance safety and reduce the costs of CWB in organisations.
Highlights
Counterproductive Workplace Behaviour (CWB) is investigated in Organisational Psychology as well as in the area of Human Factors
The results indicate that low levels of cautiousness as well as sensitivity towards injustice are indicators of a high intention to violate a rule in daily life settings, whereas low levels of self-interest are associated with a low intention to violate a rule in daily life settings (Table 4)
The Organisational Psychology perspective and the Human Factors perspective were combined in order to gain new insights
Summary
Counterproductive Workplace Behaviour (CWB) is investigated in Organisational Psychology as well as in the area of Human Factors. The present studies integrate findings gained from the two disciplines to investigate the qualities of personality traits that predict safety-related rule violations in a production context. A pilot study was conducted to test a set of personality traits in terms of their predictive qualities regarding the intention to violate a rule. Cautiousness turned out to be significantly correlated with safety-related rule violations in the production context. CWB has become an important topic in the area of Organisational Psychology as well as in Human Factors research. In the area of Human Factors, CWB is mainly considered under the heading of safety-related rule violations and their impact on safety. Reason [8] further differentiates between malevolent violations, which are undertaken to damage the system, and non-malevolent violations, which are not committed to harm an organisation
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