determinants of deviant workplace behavior
DESCRIPTION
Faculty: AKAREEMInstitute: BRAC UniversitySubject & Year: Organizational Behavior (2012)TRANSCRIPT
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 1
Summary
This report examined the individual and organizational determinants of workplace
deviant behaviors in the organizational workgroup setting. It also focused on Organizational
citizenship (OCB) and the role of OCB to define the job responsibilities of an employee. The
nature of the report is descriptive and this report is evaluated through Bi-variate analysis. The
cross tabulation table is for identifying which category (01 and 02) practice work place
deviant behaviors more than other category of a single variable and the chi-square table
signifies whether a particular variable has a direct relationship with work place deviant
behaviors or not. This report is also analyzed how to reduce or eliminate workplace deviance
to enhance the organizational security and also shows the relationship between OCB and
other variables.
Importance
The Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a discretionary behavior that is not
a part of an employee's formal job requirements but that nonetheless supports the effective
functioning of the organization. This discretionary effort could include, volunteering for extra
work or directly helping others or the team with their assigned job duties. OCB is an
important factor that can contribute to the survival of an organization. Within an
organization, employee satisfaction depends on organizational commitment, organizational
justice, career development, personality, motivation and leadership which ultimately made
impact and affect on the OCB. Through OCB, we can identify employee behavior in terms of
in-role and extra-role behavior. OCB is the function of how broadly employees define their
job responsibilities (Morrion and Zaleth, 1994). OCB is important in employees contribution
because OCB may improve organizational effectiveness (Padsakoff and Mackenzie, 1997).
These behaviors normally exceed the minimum requirements of the job, they are not easily
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 2
enforceable and performing them is usually at the discretion of the individual (Organ, 1997).
Therefore, when an individual spends time on these voluntary and support activities, they are
considered as "good citizens" (Bateman and Organ, 1983). OCB have not included in
advanced for a given job, so OCB are regarded as an extra role. While employees get proper
motivation and job satisfaction, it leads them to participate in OCB more than the employees
who are dissatisfied.
In the workplace, many people come together and express different behaviors. Each of these
behaviors has different consequences to the individual working in the whole organization.
The consequences of deviant workplace behavior are critical because they can affect all
levels of the organization including decision making, productivity and financial costs.
Nonetheless, OCB makes huge contribution to the working environment of an organization.
Literature Review
Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is behavior that extends beyond that
required by an organization in a formal job description. Some of the researchers emphasized
on the classification of context relevant attitudes motives or characteristics. The context
relevant attitudes include job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job characteristics.
The researchers have also said that the performance of organizational citizenship behavior is
reactive (Organ and Ryan, 1995) and also examined the motives of an individual for
performing organizational citizenship behavior. While performing the research work, the
researchers took some factors under considerations. Those factors are given below:
1. Self monitoring and organizational citizenship behavior:
Self monitoring is a personality trait and it is the ability of an individual to
adjust his or her behavior to external situational factors. Self monitoring does have a
strong relationship with organizational citizenship behavior. If we look specifically
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 3
then we can say that self monitoring is more strongly related with the interpersonal
dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior. If a person is highly self-
monitored, then he or she will be skilled in communication and for this specific
reason they can interact with others in a clear way and this quality help an individual
to engage him or herself in voluntary behavior. High self monitoring can engage
themselves in pre-social values like being friendly, polite, being concerned about
others feeling etc.
2. Employees mood and organizational citizenship behavior:
Mood within organizational structure influence both what and how an
employee think (Forgos and George,). Mood is really important because it affects how
an employee deal with his or her task, it influence information recall and thereby
influence organizational judgment and behavior. It means that when an employee is in
a good mood then he or she will perform his or her task properly and on the other
hand they will be much more willing to help their subordinates.
3. Perceived fairness and organizational citizenship behavior:
Moorman (1991) and researchers have emphasized on fairness and found out a
correlation between fairness and organizational citizenship behavior. If an employee
is fairly treated, then they will hold positive attitudes towards their work, outcomes
and supervisors. Organs and Konovsky (1989) reported that organizational citizenship
behavior is related with the perception of fairness and the subjective appraisal of job
outcomes, rather than on their mood. According to Slot (1999), employees attempt to
maintain a balance between their effort and expected return. Slot (1999) has also said
that if any employee feels that they are unfairly treated, then they will reduce their
organizational citizenship behavior otherwise vice versa.
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 4
4. Gender and organizational citizenship behavior:
There is a evidence that men has always performed higher in their
performance whereas women are highly involved in organizational citizenship
behavior. Women are good in organizational citizenship behavior because they are
sensitive, loving, helpful and kind. So it proves that a female employee is highly
involved in organizational citizenship behavior.
OCB and Deviant workplace behavior:
Organizational citizenship behavior is a voluntary behavior done by an employee for
the benefit of an organization whereas deviant workplace behavior hampers the working
environment of an organization as the employees who practice deviant behaviors violates the
norms and rules of a particular organization. This clearly shows that OCB do have an inverse
relationship with deviant workplace behavior. In the above discussion self monitoring was
compared with organizational citizenship behavior where we found that if an employee has
self monitoring power, then he or she can avoid external situational factors and can perform
his or her task well. Now if we compare the organizational citizenship behavior with deviant
workplace behavior then we can see that if an employee does not have the self monitoring
power, then he or she may face frustration or dissatisfaction towards his or her workplace
which will eventually lead that employee to deviant behaviors. If we compare with
employees mood and perceived fairness with deviant workplace behavior, then we will also
see that this also have inverse relationship with each other. If an employee is in a good mood
then he or she will be willing to help other within the organization otherwise an employee
may engage him or herself in deviant workplace behavior.
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 5
Methodology
1. Nature of the Study:
Our nature of the study was descriptive study which means a statistical study
to identify patterns or trends in a situation but not the causal linkages among its
different elements. Descriptive studies (such as a cross-sectional study) help in
generating hypothesis on which further research may be based.
2. Questionnaire Design:
In total, there were 71 variables and we designed a close questionnaire which
means there were some fixed questions and the respondent had to answer form those
questions rather than adding any other ideas from him or herself. There was a scale of
1 to 5 which is called the likert scale to answer the question of our questionnaire.
There were some categorical information such as level of study, current CGPA etc.
and there were some negative questions to test the validity of a particular
questionnaire which was removed from the questionnaire while creating the final
analysis.
3. Sample:
We have collected 732 samples and for collecting these samples we have
applied convenience sampling method which means a sampling method (a way of
gathering participants for a study) used where you select a naturally-occurring group
of people within the population you want to study.
4. Analysis:
Basically we have done a Bi-variate analysis which means a simultaneous
analysis of two variables or attributes. We have done a cluster analysis and by doing it
we have combined all the work place deviant behaviors into a new variable and these
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 6
variable has two categories, category one (01) which signifies the lower practice of
deviant behaviors and category two (02) which signifies the higher practice of deviant
behaviors. In the analysis, we have tried to test the relationship between these two
categories (01 and 02) and with the demographic variables (such as age, public
university, private university etc.).
Analysis
In our analysis, there are two tables in our analysis; first table is the cross tabulation
table from which we can identify which category practice work place deviant behaviors more
than other category of a single variable. The second table is the chi-square table from which
we can identify whether a particular variable has a direct relationship with work place deviant
behaviors or not. So, in the Chi-square test, the variables that contain the value of .000 can be
called as highly correlated, variables that have the value of less than .05 but greater than .000 (such
as .097) can be called as marginally correlated and the variables that contain the value of more
than .05 (such as .590) have no correlation.
Crosstab
Count
Cluster Number of
Case
Total1 2pub_private public 231 141 372
private 188 172 360
Total 419 313 732
level 1st year 64 41 105
2nd year 172 124 296
3rd year 90 89 179
4th year 72 52 124
masters 21 7 28
Total 419 313 732
gender female 139 82 221
male 280 231 511
Total 419 313 732
medium bangla 327 239 566
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 7
english 92 74 166
Total 419 313 732
fin_Support no 326 245 571
yes 93 68 161
Total 419 313 732
Research_Part no 306 236 542
yes 113 77 190
Total 419 313 732
Promotion_Seen
no 210 142 352
tv 53 43 96
Newspaper 129 110 239
magazine 8 8 16
radio 0 3 3
billboard 9 3 12
leaflet 7 2 9
others 3 1 4
Total 419 312 731
ExtraCurricular no 145 121 266
yes 274 192 466
Total 419 313 732
Table: Cross tabulation
Chi-Square Tests
Value df
Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Exact Sig. (2-sided)
Exact Sig. (1-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square
7.288a 1 .007
Pearson Chi-Square
7.869a 4 .097
Pearson Chi-Square
4.137a 1 .042
Pearson Chi-Square
.290a 1 .590
Pearson Chi-Square
.023a 1 .879
Pearson Chi-Square
.523a 1 .470
Pearson Chi-Square
10.019a 7 .188
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 8
Pearson Chi-Square
3.962a 5 .555
Table: Chi-Square tests
Here, we have divided our analysis into eight parts as our variables are eight. The
discussion of this parts and their relationship rate with deviant workplace behaviors is given
below with logics:
Part: 01
In the first row of our cross tabulation table, we can see the number of students
involved in deviant workplace behavior in public and private universities. Here, we can see
that the private university students practice work place deviant behavior more than the public
university students as 172 out of 360 people practice work place deviant behaviors in private
universities where 141 out of 372 people practice work place deviant behaviors in the public
universities. We can also see in the Chi-square test that more or less there is a high
relationship (.007) between these demographic variable with the work place deviant
behaviors. The reason of this relationship could be administrative and educational
pressure. In the daily life of the university students, they face a lot of educational pressure
such as assignments, quizzes, presentations etc. as well as follow many administrative rules
and regulations to stay in the university campus which makes the students frustrated and they
fell encouraged to practice work place deviant behaviors.
Part: 02
In the second row of the cross tabulation signifies the level of studies and also shows
the number of students practice deviant behaviors in a particular study level. The numerical
figure shows us that the deviant workplace behavior increases with the increase in level of
study. The significant value of the chi square test is .097 which shows that this variable do
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 9
have a marginal relationship with the variables of deviant workplace behavior. The reason
behind this raise of deviant behavior could be friendly environment. When students enter in
a university as fresher’s, they do not have the nerve to get involved in deviant behaviors but
after passing a certain level when those students get used to with the environment, they
usually begin by ignoring some rules and regulations in the university and afterwards involve
themselves into some serious deviant behaviors.
Part: 03
The third row in cross tabulation shows the number of male and female students
involved in deviant workplace behavior. If we see the numerical figures, 82 out 221 female
students practice deviant behaviors and 231 out of 511 male students practice a deviant
behavior which clearly shows that male students practice deviant behaviors more than female
students. In the Chi-square test we can also see that there is a marginal relationship of .042
between this variable and the workplace deviant behavior. The reason of this relationship
could be variation of personality. Male are usually forceful and tough in nature which
makes their odds easier to involve in deviant behaviors where female students are usually
obedient, sensitive, peace loving and studious which makes their probability low in involving
themselves in deviant behaviors.
Part: 04
The next row in the cross tabulation table shows us the number of Bangla and English
medium students involved in deviant behaviors. We can see that 239 out of 566 Bangla
medium students are involved in deviant behaviors whereas 74 out of 166 English medium
students are involved in deviant behaviors. So, it shows that the Bangla medium students are
involved more in deviant behaviors than English medium students. According to the Chi-
square test, there is no significant relationship between these variable and deviant workplace
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 10
behavior as the significant value is .590 which greater than .05. The reason behind their lack
of relationship can be personal or family preference. When a student goes for primary or
secondary education, it is their or their family’s choice whether they will go for Bangla
medium or English medium. Even if that student remains dissatisfied afterwards, there is less
possibility to be involved in deviant behaviors.
Part: 05
In the following row, we can see in the cross tabulation table about the number of
students who are receiving or not receiving any financial support, getting involved in the
deviant workplace behaviors. According to our survey, 245 out of 571 students are involved
in the deviant behaviors who are not receiving any financial support and on the other hand,
68 out of 161 students are involved in the deviant behaviors who are receiving financial
supports form their institution which shows that students who are not receiving any financial
support are getting involved more than the students who are getting financial support. In the
Chi-square test, the significant value of this variable and the deviant workplace behavior
is .879 which means there is no relationship among them. The reason can be the quality of
the student. If a particular student has the capability or grades to receive any financial
support, he or she knows that he or she will automatically get the support but the student who
does not have the grades will not even think for any financial support. So in both scenarios, a
student can judge their qualities and there is no space for any deviant behavior.
Part: 06
In the sixth row of the cross tabulation, it shows the number of students who
participates or avoids research activities perform deviant behaviors. If we see the numerical
figures, 236 out of 532 students are involved in deviant behaviors who avoids the research
activities and on the other hand, 77 out of 190 students take part in deviant behaviors who
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 11
participates in the research activities which clearly shows that the students who are not
participating in the research activities are involved more in the deviant activities. In the Chi-
square test, the significant value is .470 which means there is no relationship between these
variable and deviant workplace behavior. One of the reasons of this lack of relation can be
lack of scope and interest. If a particular educational institution does not offer any research
work or if a particular student does not have the interest in research works, he or she will not
pay any attention to it and as a result there will not be any deviant behaviors.
Part: 07
In the next part of the cross tabulation shows the number of students who sees or not
sees the promotion of their university involved in the workplace deviant behaviors. So from
our survey, we can see that the students who have not seen any promotion of their university
(142 out of 352 students) are mostly involved in the workplace deviant behaviors. We can
also see from the Chi-square test that this variable does not have any significant relationship
(.188) with workplace deviant behaviors. The reason of this lack of relationship could be no
personal benefit. The deviant workplace behaviors are those behaviors that violate the rules
and regulations of a particular institution and without any dissatisfaction or personal benefit.
In this case, the students do not have any significant benefit as the promotion of their
institution does not satisfy or dissatisfy them. So, there is no reason to be involved in deviant
behaviors.
Part: 08
The last part of our cross tabulation table shows the number of students who are
involved or not involved with extracurricular activities perform deviant behaviors. We can
see in the cross tabulation that 121 out of 266 students who are not involve with
extracurricular activities and 192 out of 466 students who are involved with extracurricular
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 12
activities perform deviant workplace behaviors. So, it clearly shows that the students who are
involved with extracurricular activities perform deviant behaviors more than others but in the
Chi-square test, there is no significant relationship (.555) between extracurricular activities
and deviant workplace behaviors. The reason behind this need of relationship could be no
academic benefit. As we do extracurricular activities for our personal learning's and
relaxation, there is not academic benefit involved where a student can fell satisfied or
dissatisfied. So, there is no room for any deviant behaviors.
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 13
Conclusion
This study examined the individual and organizational determinants of workplace
deviant behaviors in the organizational workgroup setting. In order to prevent deviant
workplace behavior we have to consider both individual characteristics and workplace
situations. Through our survey and analysis we found out that there are different categories of
students as most of the students responded differently by agreeing or disagreeing or by being
neutral. As we have seen that most of the students who are getting involved in deviant
behaviors, they practice it because of administrative or educational pressure or new entrance
or variation of personality. Now in order to reduce or eliminate workplace deviance to
enhance organization security, administrators need to consider the students reactions to
organizational policies and practice, as well as their views and what attract them most to the
organization. If it is necessary to reduce the administrative pressure towards the students for
the betterment of the organization, then administrators should consider this because if the
student’s reaction to organizational practices is positive, they will be likely attracted by the
pleasant relationships maintained in the workgroup. Therefore, students may engage in
deviant behavior as a way to air out their dissatisfaction with the organization or simply to
react upon their peers. In order to avoid this situation, administrators need to build a trusting
environment. When students show high positive reactions to their organizations they tend to
perform their studies better with little or no supervision.
DETERMINANTS OF DEVIANT WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR 14
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