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New Approach to Compliance

NCJ Number
130317
Journal
Security Management Volume: 35 Issue: 6 Dated: (June 1991) Pages: 45-46
Author(s)
P Pitorri
Date Published
1991
Length
2 pages
Annotation
A new approach is needed to motivate honest U.S. Federal government employees to report potential traitors or other colleagues who do not treat classified information with proper care. This approach identifies seven cognitive-motivational factors that inhibit reporting and seeks methods to neutralize those inhibitors.
Abstract
The seven inhibitors are social influence, diffusion of responsibility, individual needs, cognitive imbalance, internationalization, violation of principles, and loss of freedom. As directives alone will not motivate compliance, managers need to show either a benefit of compliance with a stressful directive or deal directly with those stress factors. The five steps for obtaining compliance are identifying inhibitors, isolating the perceptions that result in those inhibitors, modifying those perceptions, selling the target behavior (compliance), and monitoring compliance.