Keywords
Electronic Performance Monitoring; Biometric Data Collection; Organizational Justice; Workplace Surveillance; EPM Policy
Abstract
The adoption of Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM) systems has increased with the prevalence of remote workers post-COVID. Research indicates EPM yields conflicting performance and behavioral outcomes. EPM-related behavior can be predicted by organizational justice (the extent to which workplaces are perceived as fair in nature); environments with higher justice ratings are less likely to induce issues like stress and distrust. However, advanced EPM like electroencephalograms (EEG) may modulate the relationships between perceived fairness, stress, and work performance. This study assigned 42 participants to a modified vigilance test (based on Temple, et al., 2001), which participants took under 3 placebo monitoring conditions: an unmonitored system, a webcam system, and an EEG system. They were provided with a personally relevant fair or unfair EPM policy explanation. In each condition, we examined task performance, self-reported technostress, and perceived justice. Results indicate advanced monitoring improves task accuracy (compared to unmonitored systems). Our findings support the idea that new EPM systems may provide novel advantages over existing monitoring, and that sufficiently advanced systems induce changes to work outcomes regardless of EPM policy. Interestingly, no correlation was found between monitoring format and perceived technostress, nor was there evidence that fairness of EPM policy affected perceived justice. These results may be influenced by individual differences in our participant population. They demonstrate a need to further explore how best to measure perceived workplace treatment, and its effects on work performance in experimental studies.
Thesis Completion Year
2025
Thesis Completion Semester
Spring
Thesis Chair
Schmidt, Joseph
College
College of Sciences
Department
Psychology
Thesis Discipline
Psychology
Language
English
Access Status
Open Access
Length of Campus Access
None
Campus Location
Orlando (Main) Campus
STARS Citation
Tang, William F., "A Kinder Panopticon? Examining Effects of Fairness and Justice on Performance Outcomes Under Advanced Electronic Monitoring Systems" (2025). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 246.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hut2024/246
Included in
Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons, Work, Economy and Organizations Commons
Rights Statement
