Deterrent and Definitional Influences on Shoplifting

College students (R = 606) were surveyed on their involvement with shoplifting. Both perceptions of risk and definitional factors served as constraints on stealing. Students who shoplifted most reported that the low risk of apprehension was an important reason for stealing and saw the least risk associated with stealing, both in terms of likelihood of apprehension and severity of formal and especially informal sanction. Apprehension increased their estimate of formal risk. Students who shoplifted most described themselves and a typical shoplifter as most similar, achieving similarity by lowering their self evaluation and raising their evaluation of the shoplifter. Shoplifters accepted responsibility for their behavior, while non-shoplifters, imagining themselves stealing, denied it. However, shoplifters who had been caught were more likely to try to justify their behavior.