Autonomous Motivation and Information Security Policy Compliance: Role of Job Satisfaction, Responsibility, and Deterrence

Many existing literatures focus on the effect of external influence mechanism (e.g. fear appeals) that impact on information security policy compliance (ISPC). In this study, we aim to explore the formation of ISPC in the perspective of autonomous motivation based on social exchange theory and self-determination theory. Participants were 261 employees (44% were women). Hypotheses were tested by hierarchical regression analysis. Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) 19.0 (including PROCESS) as well as R 4.0.2 were used to analyze the data. The results showed that (1) Job satisfaction and personal responsibility have positive impacts on ISPC. (2) Job satisfaction can promote the formation of personal responsibility, and deterrence severity has a negative moderating effect on this relationship. (3) Personal responsibility mediates the relationship between job satisfaction and ISPC. This study suggests that organizational support should be focused on promoting the perceived self-determination of the employees as well as deterrence should be kept at a moderate level which is adapted to the organization's security strategy and specific information security environment.