Dispositional and situational factors: influences on information security policy violations

Insiders represent a major threat to the security of an organization’s information resources. Previous research has explored the role of dispositional and situational factors in promoting compliant behavior, but these factors have not been studied together. In this study, we use a scenario‐based factorial survey approach to identify key dispositional and situational factors that lead to information security policy violation intentions. We obtained 317 observations from a diverse sample of insiders. The results of a general linear mixed model indicate that dispositional factors (particularly two personality meta‐traits, Stability and Plasticity) serve as moderators of the relationships between perceptions derived from situational factors and intentions to violate information security policy. This study represents the first information security study to identify the existence of these two meta‐traits and their influence on information security policy violation intentions. More importantly, this study provides new knowledge of how insiders translate perceptions into intentions based on their unique personality trait mix.