Investigation of general and program-specific attitudes toward corporate drug-testing policies.

Abstract

In 3 studies, the author investigated individuals' attitudes toward corporate drug-testing programs. Subjects in a laboratory experiment held favorable attitudes toward (a) punitive drug-testing programs for employees in safety-sensitive occupations and (b) less punitive drug-testing programs for employees in less safety-sensitive occupations. However, in a correlational field study, drug-tested employees in safety-sensitive positions held more negative attitudes toward punitive drug-testing programs than did drug-tested individuals in less safety-sensitive positions. In an inductive investigation of fairness determinants, tested and nontested employees invoked different justice rules when assessing the fairness of highly punitive drug-testing programs. Implications for research and practice are discussed