An Empirical Test of the Relationship Between Employee Theft and Low Self-Control

Abstract

Abstract Although Gottfredson and Hirschi (1987, Citation1990) maintain that low self-control can account for white-collar/corporate offending, there have been few and inconclusive empirical tests in this area. One area of white-collar crime, in particular, which could benefit from an examination of the role of low self-control in predicting offending, is employee theft. Although employee theft is one of the more costly and pervasive crimes impacting the American economy each year, there has been very little research examining the role of individual characteristics and personality traits in predicting this type of deviant behavior. The current research is a preliminary attempt at integrating the two bodies of literature, employee theft and low self-control. Notes 1Completed survey response rates from each of the sections ranged from 41 to 96 percent of the total class enrollment with an average rate of 68 percent. Unfortunately, attendance was not taken in any of the four sections so it is unknown what percentage of the students were absent on the day of the survey versus those who simply chose to not complete the questionnaire. The possibility does exist that the study is inherently biased due to unknown distinctions between the participating and not participating/present group. However, Gottfredson and Hirschi would suggest that the bias is against their theory because those who did not attend class or chose not to participate are expected to be the individuals with the lowest self-control. 2The exception is seat belt use, which was recoded so that respondents who do not wear a seat belt were given a one (1) and respondents who do wear seat belts given a zero (0). ∗ = p < .05, ∗∗ = p < .01. 3We also estimated a logistic regression model with employee theft as a dichotomous variable measuring a zero versus nonzero likelihood of behaving as the character in the scenario. The same substantive findings emerged and are available on request. + = p < .1, ∗ = p < .05, ∗∗ = p < .01.