Employee deviance: the impacts of techno-insecurity and moral disengagement

Purpose Employees may see technostress, that is, the stress experienced by individuals as a result of the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), as a threat to their jobs. In other words, employees may have a strong sense of job insecurity because of the ICT. This study aims to examine why and when employees might respond to technology-induced job insecurity (techno-insecurity) by engaging in workplace deviance – an activity that is costly for organizations. Design/methodology/approach The authors apply partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses, using a sample of 354 valid responses. Findings The authors found that job-related technostress creators and technology-related technostress creators are positively associated with techno-insecurity. Techno-insecurity affects deviant behavior by increasing employees' moral disengagement. The authors also found that informal sanctions moderated the relationship between techno-insecurity and moral disengagement, while formal sanctions moderated the relationship between moral disengagement and deviance. Originality/value This study contributes to a better understanding of employee techno-insecurity and deviance by expanding the technostress literature and applying moral disengagement theory.