A multigroup SEM analysis of the antecedents and moderating influence of culture on workplace deviance behavior

Purpose: Antecedents and outcomes of workplace deviance have been studied over the past few decades but there is still a lack of research from an organizational climate, witness and cultural point of view. Theoretical considerations for the present research are based on the social cognitive theory perspective where the authors expect employees's involvement in workplace destructive deviance would depend on their organizational climate perception, witness behavior and cultural orientation. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 987 participants from India (N = 404) and USA (N = 583) completed an online questionnaire, and multi-group structural equation modeling analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized model. Findings: Across cultural groups, higher collectivism is associated with lower engagement in workplace deviance. Furthermore, employees' higher intervening witness behavior is associated with lower destructive deviant behaviors when employees showed higher endorsement of collectivism in India (not USA). However, employees' higher self-serving witness behavior is associated with higher destructive deviant behaviors. Interestingly, employees with higher endorsement of individualism associated with organizational climate are more likely to engage in destructive deviance. Originality/value: The main originality of this study is to further increase the understanding of the relationship between organizational climate, witness behavior (self-serving and intervening behavior) and workplace deviance (organizational and interpersonal destructive deviance) considering the role of employees' cultural orientation (individualism vs collectivism).