Why Colleagues Steal Each Other’s Belongings (and What to Do About It)
Your headphones are missing. Someone ate your lunch. Your desk chair is gone. Theft is rampant in the office, and Fast Company explains why.
In fact, even if people consider themselves to be honest, people tend to be very poor at avoiding short-term temptations and thinking about the consequences of their actions:
Human behavior focuses on doing what seems right in the short term, not what seems right in the long term. If you need to eat right now, the food available will be enjoyable, even if it isn’t taken from someone else.
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Most of us hold abstract values like honesty and virtue. However, in specific situations, we focus more on our actions than on their meaning for our abstract self-esteem. This means that petty acts of dishonesty can coexist with a broad belief in people’s honesty.
Fast Company goes on to explain that we’re more likely to steal or cheat when the environment makes things easier and we don’t think someone is watching – for example, no one else is at the office refrigerator, or only you are working late and the supply closet is open.
The solution to this common problem can be very simple: place reminders around problem areas (“Please don’t eat other people’s food”), make it harder for people to steal things (lock your headphones), and possibly mount a camera. or otherwise create the impression that workers are being watched.
Is it sad that we have to do such things? Yes, but sometimes human nature is sad.
The Psychology of Why People Steal Their Colleagues’ Things | Fast Company