Skip to main content
. 2022 Feb 3;29(6):926–952. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2021.1995522

Table 2.

Studies of personality and WCC in non-offender samples.

Authors Year Sample Measures Results
Leeper Piquero, Nicole, Lyn Exum, and Sally Simpson
(Piquero et al., 2005)		 2005 13 business executives and 33 MBA students.

  1. Three scenarios depicting corporate violations; and

  2. Desirability of Control Scale (1979).

 Identified ‘desire-for-control’ as being associated with willingness to break the law.
Turner, Michael
(Turner, 2014)		 2014 357 undergraduate accounting students in Australia.

  1. The short-version 44-item BFI personality measurement items; and

  2. Two scenarios about WCC and accounting fraud.

 Individuals scoring lower in agreeableness and conscientiousness had self-reported higher propensity to commit WCC.
Schoepfer, Andrea, Nicole Leeper Piquero, and Lynn Langton
(Schoepfer et al., 2014)		 2014 Sample of 391 criminal justice students.

  1. Three vignettes involving embezzlement, shredding documents, and shoplifting;

  2. Desirability of Control Scale (1979); and

  3. Low self-control scale (1993)

 Desire-for-control significantly predicted intentions to offend in participants with low self-control for embezzlement; was significant under both low and high levels of self-control for shredding incriminating documents; and not significant for shoplifting.
Craig, Jessica Maeve
(Craig, 2016)		 2015 298 undergraduate criminology students.

  1. Two white-collar crime scenarios and one minor property crime scenario;

  2. Desirability of Control Scale (1979); and

  3. Low Self-Control Scale (1993)

 Respondents with lower self-control reported more intentions to offend. Amongst those with high self-control, higher desire-for-control was protective for offending.
Craig, Jessica M., and Nicole Leeper Piquero
(Craig & Piquero, 2017)		 2017 298 undergraduate university students.

  1. Two white-collar crime scenarios and one minor property crime scenario;

  2. Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS); and

  3. Low Self-Control Scale (1993).

 Association between unsocialised sensation-seeking and intentions to engage in shoplifting, embezzlement, and credit card fraud.
De Vries, Reinout E., Raghuvar D. Pathak, Jean-Louis Van Gelder, and Gurmeet Singh
(De Vries et al., 2017)		 2017 235 working adults in Fiji and the Marshall Islands.

  1. Short HEXACO-PI-R 2006);

  2. Perceived Environmental Corruption (PEC) scale and the Perceived Environmental Normativeness (PEN) scale;

  3. Ethical organizational culture scale (2008); and

  4. Four vignettes about WCC.

 Association between lower honesty and humility ratings and willingness to make unethical business decisions.

Note: WCC = white-collar crime; BFI = the Big Five Inventory; HEXACO -PI -R = The HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised.