The Effects of Different Types of Internal Controls on Employee Self-Control

Abstract

One key reason companies implement internal controls is to reduce the likelihood of unethical behavior. Yet, research on ego depletion from psychology suggests that some controls may cause reductions in employees’ self-control, which could lead to increases in unethical behavior. Therefore, this study examines how different types of controls — namely preventive, detective with immediate feedback, and detective with delayed feedback — impact self-control and ethical judgments. Based on the results of three different experiments with 462 participants, we find no significant relation between self-control and the types of internal controls tested. Furthermore, we find that the types of controls tested have no effect on ethical judgments or ethical ideology. Thus, our results suggest that controls in general and some types of internal controls do not differentially impact self-control.

Keywords: Internal Controls, Ego Depletion, Ethics, Preventive Controls, Detective Controls

JEL Classification: M4, M40, M41, G3