What Happens When Formal and Informal Norms Conflict for IT Usage?

Employee ethical perceptions and behavior are shaped by any number of factors that may be complementary or in conflict, such as formal organizational norms that may clash with an individual's personal norms. When formal norms are established to protect the organization, the way employees respond to such conflict can put the organization at risk. We examine how the judgments and intentions of individuals change when formal and informal norms agree or disagree regarding the use of company technology for personal tasks while at work. We varied a company policy (formal norm) and examined participant responses to the policy relative to participants' expected personal norm (informal norm). Participants provided judgments of the ethicality of the behavior and their intention to engage in the same behavior. Both formal and informal norms influence ethicality judgments and intentions. When the norms were in conflict, both norms influence judgments and intentions, but in different ways.