Construction Workers’ Group Norms and Personal Standards Regarding Safety Behavior: Social Identity Theory Perspective

Abstract

A number of researchers have proposed and demonstrated that worker behavior is one of the main factors in construction safety. Working within the parameters of worker safety awareness and behavior, many researchers have recently suggested that shared values and customs, i.e., group norms, play an important role in shaping individual workers’ safety behavior. Regarding how individuals’ behavior is under the influence of group norms, the social identity theory suggests that people perceive themselves as a member of a group, depersonalize the self, and base their beliefs and behavior on the norms of the group. Despite the clarity of this configuration, the extent to which construction workers’ safety attitudes and behaviors are influenced by group norms, and the degree to which social identification is involved in this process, remains unclear. In particular, the transient nature of construction worker employment and multiple identities that a construction worker might hold make it difficult to understand the influence of group norms on workers’ safety behavior. To address these knowledge gaps, this paper aims to identify the (1) influence of group norms on a construction worker’s personal standards regarding safety behavior, (2) current status of construction workers’ social identities, and (3) impact of social identification on the influence that group norms have on construction workers’ personal standards regarding safety behavior. To achieve these objectives, empirical data were collected from 82 construction workers and nine project managers from three different construction sites using behavioral economic experiments along with surveys, and the data were analyzed using quantitative methods, such as correlation analysis, regression analysis, and t-tests. The analyses demonstrate that there is a measurable difference between construction workers’ personal standards and the norms desired by project managers regarding safety behavior and that construction workers’ personal standards regarding safety behavior are significantly influenced by their perceived group norms. The analyses also demonstrate that construction workers identify themselves with the different groups to which they belong (e.g., workgroup, trade, union, company, project) to significantly different degrees and that the salience of social identity with a group moderates the influence that the group’s norms have on personal standards regarding safety behavior in construction workers. These findings suggest a new way of thinking about safety management in construction; promoting project-wide positive norms combined with improved project identity can be an effective means of improving workers’ safety behavior in construction projects.