Neutralizing in the workplace: An empirical analysis of property theft and production deviance

Abstract

Using Sykes and Matza's (1957) “techniques of neutralization” paradigm, an adult sample of 9,175 retail, hospital, and manufacturing employees were examined to assess the empirical relationship of the concept with both self‐reported property theft and counterproductive deviant behavior in the workplace. Although the direction of causal order cannot be determined conclusively, above‐average employee rule breakers are significantly more likely than their less deviant peers to invoke guilt‐neutralizing techniques. The presence of age/ “denial of injury” and age/denial of victim” interactions, however, suggests that the workplace deviance of younger employees does not depend nearly as heavily on neutralizing techniques as does that of their older co‐workers. This newly discovered age interaction may explain why earlier researchers prematurely (and erroneously) declared invalid the “techniques of neutralization” paradigm.