The Association between Big-Five Personality and Property Deviance

Objective – Property deviance is an inverse behaviour that has received widespread attention from all forms of organisations. This behaviour can be characterised as theft, embezzlement, bribery and corruption. The public sector has experiences wide exposure to this behaviour due to its prevalence among public sector employees. Thus, in this study, emphasis is given to the personality of the public administrator in identifying the contribution of personality in curbing property deviance. Methodology/Technique – The study was conducted on public organisations and questionnaires were distributed to public administrators using a convenience survey. The questionnaire uses the Big-Five Personality Dimensions developed by Lussier (2008), whilst the property deviance uses a three-item questionnaire developed by Robinson and Bennett (1995). Data was analysed through correlation analysis. Findings – The findings demonstrated that personality does contribute to property deviance, with all dimensions of personality having a significant negative association with property deviance. These findings highlight major implications for public organisations in identifying the personality of their staff, in order to control the rate of property deviance and establishing a system for translating these findings into action to be taken, in order for the existing staff and future employees to regulate desirable workplace behaviour. Novelty – The study suggests that screening should be conducted periodically in the selection process as well as in the form of employee training for staff with the personality traits found in people likely to engage in property deviance. Type of Paper: Empirical.