Determinants of behavior towards ethical issues in personal computing

The analysis suggests that perception of management's beliefs determines peer's behavior which in turn determines subject's behavior, which should have a well-defined policy of personal computing behavior and ensure that this is accurately communicated to employees.

Abstract

Personal computer users' attitudes towards ethical issues in personal computing were investigated using causal modeling. Responses from 123 personal computer users to 19 scenarios of ethical situations in personal computing were collected. Five of these scenarios were used to identify potential causal models among the following variables: subject's behavior, subject's beliefs, peer's behavior, peer's beliefs, management's beliefs and subject's opportunity. Three possible causal models were identified using TETRAD. The fit between the observed data and a possible causal model was then examined for all nineteen scenarios using EQS. A comparison with a multiple regression model involving the variables suggested by TETRAD was also made. The analysis suggests that perception of management's beliefs determines peer's behavior which in turn determines subject's behavior. The implications of the findings are that organizations should have a well-defined policy of personal computing behavior and ensure that this is accurately communicated to employees.