Factors that Influence Workers’ Participation in Unhygienic Cyber Practices: A Pilot Study from Nigeria

Abstract

Participation or engagement in unhygienic cyber practices could ultimately harm an organization’s information and communication technologies, if unchecked. This present study used concepts from the theory of planned behavior and organizational control theory to examine the effects of factors such as attitude, subjective norms, organizational facilitators, monitoring, and self-efficacy on workers’ participation in unhygienic cyber practices. A cross-sectional survey of Nigerian professionals was used to test the formulated hypotheses. Partial least squares technique of structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis. The results indicate that attitude toward cyber hygiene has a negative effect on worker’s participation in unhygienic cyber practices; similarly, subjective norms have a negative effect on engagement in such acts. The data did not show that organizational facilitators, self-efficacy, and monitoring had a meaningful impact on Nigerian workers’ participation in unhygienic cyber practices. Implications of the study were discussed and contribution to the extant literature noted.