Working conditions and cybersecurity: Time pressure, autonomy and threat appraisal shaping employees’ security behavior
With the increasing importance of cybersecurity in organizations, it becomes crucial that employees behave securely. In the present article, we investigate the interplay of antecedents on this behavior. We conceptualize cybersecurity behavior through the components of compliance and participation a...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Masaryk University
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/20963 |
| _version_ | 1797248182625763328 |
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| author | Cornelia Gerdenitsch Daniela Wurhofer Manfred Tscheligi |
| author_facet | Cornelia Gerdenitsch Daniela Wurhofer Manfred Tscheligi |
| author_sort | Cornelia Gerdenitsch |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
With the increasing importance of cybersecurity in organizations, it becomes crucial that employees behave securely. In the present article, we investigate the interplay of antecedents on this behavior. We conceptualize cybersecurity behavior through the components of compliance and participation and investigate the relationship between security knowledge, threat appraisal (i.e., severity and susceptibility), and working conditions (i.e., time pressure, decision-making autonomy). We conducted an online survey in four public organizations, collecting quantitative cross-sectional data from 214 employees. The survey captured subjective perceptions of the concepts. Findings showed a positive effect of security knowledge on security compliance and security participation. The perception of severity and susceptibility strengthened both effects. Additionally, the presence of time pressure reduced the effect of security knowledge on security compliance, while having decision-making autonomy increased the effect of security knowledge on security participation. Our study demonstrates the interplay between antecedents and highlights the role of working conditions in employees’ cybersecurity behavior. Implications for practice in terms of training approaches considering work design are discussed.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T20:10:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fe5fe2cbdf66440f97342c9993463633 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1802-7962 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T20:10:31Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Masaryk University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace |
| spelling | doaj.art-fe5fe2cbdf66440f97342c99934636332024-03-23T13:13:47ZengMasaryk UniversityCyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace1802-79622023-09-0117410.5817/CP2023-4-7Working conditions and cybersecurity: Time pressure, autonomy and threat appraisal shaping employees’ security behaviorCornelia Gerdenitsch0Daniela Wurhofer1Manfred Tscheligi2AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, AustriaLudwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention, Salzburg, AustriaAIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria; Department for Artificial Intelligence and Human Interfaces, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria With the increasing importance of cybersecurity in organizations, it becomes crucial that employees behave securely. In the present article, we investigate the interplay of antecedents on this behavior. We conceptualize cybersecurity behavior through the components of compliance and participation and investigate the relationship between security knowledge, threat appraisal (i.e., severity and susceptibility), and working conditions (i.e., time pressure, decision-making autonomy). We conducted an online survey in four public organizations, collecting quantitative cross-sectional data from 214 employees. The survey captured subjective perceptions of the concepts. Findings showed a positive effect of security knowledge on security compliance and security participation. The perception of severity and susceptibility strengthened both effects. Additionally, the presence of time pressure reduced the effect of security knowledge on security compliance, while having decision-making autonomy increased the effect of security knowledge on security participation. Our study demonstrates the interplay between antecedents and highlights the role of working conditions in employees’ cybersecurity behavior. Implications for practice in terms of training approaches considering work design are discussed. https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/20963cybersecuritysecurity knowledgethreat appraisalworking conditionstime pressuredecision-making autonomy |
| spellingShingle | Cornelia Gerdenitsch Daniela Wurhofer Manfred Tscheligi Working conditions and cybersecurity: Time pressure, autonomy and threat appraisal shaping employees’ security behavior Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace cybersecurity security knowledge threat appraisal working conditions time pressure decision-making autonomy |
| title | Working conditions and cybersecurity: Time pressure, autonomy and threat appraisal shaping employees’ security behavior |
| title_full | Working conditions and cybersecurity: Time pressure, autonomy and threat appraisal shaping employees’ security behavior |
| title_fullStr | Working conditions and cybersecurity: Time pressure, autonomy and threat appraisal shaping employees’ security behavior |
| title_full_unstemmed | Working conditions and cybersecurity: Time pressure, autonomy and threat appraisal shaping employees’ security behavior |
| title_short | Working conditions and cybersecurity: Time pressure, autonomy and threat appraisal shaping employees’ security behavior |
| title_sort | working conditions and cybersecurity time pressure autonomy and threat appraisal shaping employees security behavior |
| topic | cybersecurity security knowledge threat appraisal working conditions time pressure decision-making autonomy |
| url | https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/20963 |
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