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The ever rising rates of data generation entail new opportunities for business and society but also an increasing risk of data breaches. Apart from technical measures, approaches like password authentication to ensure data protection revolve around the end-user as the human element in information security. Drawing on organizational research which argues that the sole feeling of ownership towards an intangible target like data can lead to heightened levels of the individual’s responsibility, we investigate whether and to what extent this ownership feeling differs between personal files and data accessed in the work context. To this end, we draw on data derived through a two-phase questionnaire among a representative group of 209 employees. Consequently, we find evidence that psychological ownership shows stronger effects on protection motivation among participants in a private context. Furthermore, results indicate that employees partly relinquish their responsibility regarding security responses to protect data in their work context.

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Feb 28th, 8:00 AM

To (Psychologically) Own Data is to Protect Data: How Psychological Ownership Determines Protective Behavior in a Work and Private Context

The ever rising rates of data generation entail new opportunities for business and society but also an increasing risk of data breaches. Apart from technical measures, approaches like password authentication to ensure data protection revolve around the end-user as the human element in information security. Drawing on organizational research which argues that the sole feeling of ownership towards an intangible target like data can lead to heightened levels of the individual’s responsibility, we investigate whether and to what extent this ownership feeling differs between personal files and data accessed in the work context. To this end, we draw on data derived through a two-phase questionnaire among a representative group of 209 employees. Consequently, we find evidence that psychological ownership shows stronger effects on protection motivation among participants in a private context. Furthermore, results indicate that employees partly relinquish their responsibility regarding security responses to protect data in their work context.

 

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