Abstract
Extant empirical research has reported conflicting findings with respect to the effects of punishment certainty and punishment severity on organizational deviance, suggesting the need to introduce a moderator. The present study tested whether self-regulatory efficacy matters on the relationships among punishment certainty, punishment severity, and organizational deviance. Drawing on deterrence and self-efficacy theories, this study examined the effects of punishment certainty, punishment severity, and self-regulatory efficacy on organizational deviance among 197 employed postgraduate students who enrolled in the Master of Business Administration program at two large universities located in the north-west geopolitical zone of Nigeria. We used self-administered questionnaires to collect data. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), we found a significant negative relationship between punishment certainty and organizational deviance. Similarly, the results indicated that punishment severity had a significant negative relationship with organizational deviance. The study also found a significant negative relationship between self-regulatory efficacy and organizational deviance. As expected, self-regulatory efficacy was found to moderate the relationship between punishment certainty and organizational deviance. On the contrary, no significant interaction effect was found between self-regulatory efficacy and punishment severity. Implications of the study in the Nigerian context have been discussed.
Highlights
Workplace deviance has been reported to be a pervasive phenomenon and costly to organizations (Aquino, Galperin, & Bennett, 2004; Lawrence & Robinson, 2007)
Despite the mixed findings reported in the literature, we argue that punishment certainty and punishment severity could reduce employees’ tendency to engage in deviant behavior in organizations
In addition to being directly related to deviant behaviors, we propose that self-regulatory efficacy moderates the relationships among punishment certainty, punishment severity, and organizational deviance because, according to Bandura (1992), perceived self-efficacy is an important consideration in understanding the levels of motivation and performance accomplishments of individuals
Summary
Workplace deviance has been reported to be a pervasive phenomenon and costly to organizations (Aquino, Galperin, & Bennett, 2004; Lawrence & Robinson, 2007). In Nigeria, deviant behaviors at work such as employee theft, fraudulent acts, sabotage, and rude behavior are reported to be prevalent among white-collar workers in recent times (Fagbohungbe, Akinbode, & Ayodeji, 2012). In Nigeria, creating strong, efficient, and effective public service organizations is the main focus of Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda (2011-2015). This agenda, which is drawn from the Nigeria’s Vision 20: 2020, is aimed at transforming the Nigerian economy to meet the future needs of the Nigerian citizens (National Planning Commission, 2010). The Nigeria’s Vision 20: 2020 emphasizes that public servants should carry out their official assignments with discipline, integrity, transparency, and loyalty
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