The Impact of an Employee’s Psychological Contract Breach on Compliance with Information Security Policies: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Abstract

Despite the rapid rise in social engineering attacks, not all employees are as compliant with information security policies (ISPs) to the extent that organisations expect them to be. ISP non-compliance is caused by a variety of psychological motivation. This study investigates the effect of psychological contract breach (PCB) of employees on ISP compliance intention (ICI) by dividing them into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the general deterrence theory (GDT). Data analysis from UK employees (n=206) showed that the higher the PCB, the lower the ICI. The study also found that PCBs significantly reduced intrinsic motivation (attitude and perceived fairness) for ICI, whereas PCBs did not moderate the relationship between extrinsic motivation (sanction severity and sanctions certainty) and ICI. As a result, this study successfully addresses the risks of PCBs in the field of IS security and proposes effective solutions for employees with high PCBs.

Exploring the Impact of the Psychological Contract on the Well-being of the New Generation of Employees in the Chinese Context

“…The concept of the psychological contract was first introduced by Argyris [13] and Levinson [14] to refer to the terms of an individual's agreement on a reciprocal exchange with another party to fulfil needs. Workplace psychological contracts are categorised into relational contracts, such as developmental opportunities and employer affirmation, and transactional contracts, such as a higher salary [15]. Regardless of the type of contract, psychological contracts are viewed as unwritten promises and agreements, as opposed to legal employment contracts [16].…”