Exploring the Nomological Network of Workplace Deviance: Developing and Validating a Measure of Constructive Deviance

Abstract

This paper explores the nomological network of workplace deviance by incorporating constructive deviance behavior. Constructive deviance focuses on behaviors that are intended to benefit the organization. In a series of three studies, a reliable and valid measure of constructive deviance behavior is developed. Individual and contextual‐level factors that facilitate constructive and destructive deviance are examined. The results suggest that while Machiavellianism is an important personality variable in predicting both constructive and destructive deviance, role breadth self‐efficacy is a central mechanism in understanding constructive but not destructive deviance. It was also found that access to information within the organization is a central contextual variable in eliciting both forms of deviance. Future research and implications are discussed.