Moral Intensity Dimensions of Information Security Policy Compliance: Perspectives of Construal Level Theory and Ethical Theories

Date

2025-01-07

Contributor

Advisor

Department

Instructor

Depositor

Speaker

Researcher

Consultant

Interviewer

Narrator

Transcriber

Annotator

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Volume

Number/Issue

Starting Page

6176

Ending Page

Alternative Title

Abstract

Sanctions are often ineffective in promoting employee compliance with information systems security policies (ISSPs) and may lead to undesired outcomes. We establish that ISSP compliance is an ethical decision and examine it through the lens of ethical decision-making using scenario-based surveys. Guided by normative ethical theories and the construal level theory, we find that both the opinions of co-workers and perceived negative consequences of noncompliance to the organization influence employee ISSP compliance intention. Additionally, perceived social distance affects employees’ assessment of when damages to the organization can occur. Both the assessed timing of damage and the perceived social distance from the organization influence employees’ judgment of potential damages from security breaches resulting from noncompliance. To improve compliance, we recommend organizations align employee compliance motivation with organizational security interests through clear communications of potential security breach damages, fostering a pro-compliance culture, and reducing the psychological distance employees feel from the organization.

Description

Keywords

Organizational Cybersecurity: Advanced Cyber Defense, Cyber Analytics, and Security Operations, construal level theory, ethics, information security policy compliance, moral intensity, psychological distance

Citation

Extent

10

Format

Geographic Location

Time Period

Related To

Proceedings of the 58th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

Related To (URI)

Table of Contents

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Rights Holder

Local Contexts

Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.