Why were millions of people not obeying the law? Motivational influences on non-compliance with the law in the case of music piracy

Abstract Despite highly publicized efforts by the music industry to curb music piracy, millions of Americans continued to illegally download and share music. This study obtained college student responses to scenarios that measured perceptions of three types of music theft: shoplifting a CD, illegally downloading, and illegally downloading plus file sharing. The students also reported their own recent downloading behavior, completed a demographics questionnaire, and responded to a series of statements that assessed their attitudes regarding factors associated with legal compliance in other domains. The data indicated that students viewed downloading and file sharing very differently than they viewed shoplifting in terms of endorsement of reasons to comply with laws prohibiting those behaviors. Further, concerns regarding punishment (i.e. deterrence), morality beliefs, and generalized obligation to obey the rule of law had the strongest relationships to self-reported downloading behavior. Respect for the music industry had the weakest relationship to legal compliance with both responses to the scenarios and students’ self-report of their own downloading behavior.

[1]  Steven L. Blader,et al.  Testing and extending the group engagement model: linkages between social identity, procedural justice, economic outcomes, and extrarole behavior. , 2009, The Journal of applied psychology.

[2]  S. Hinduja,et al.  Neutralizing Music Piracy: An Empirical Examination , 2008 .

[3]  T. P. Cronan,et al.  Factors that Influence the Intention to Pirate Software and Media , 2008 .

[4]  C. Abraham,et al.  Social cognitive determinants of ecstasy use to target in evidence-based interventions: a meta-analytical review , 2008, Addiction.

[5]  Rajiv K. Sinha,et al.  Preventing Digital Music Piracy: The Carrot or the Stick? , 2008 .

[6]  E. Lambert,et al.  The impact of distributive and procedural justice on correctional staff job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment , 2007 .

[7]  T. Tyler,et al.  Reintegrative Shaming, Procedural Justice, and Recidivism: The Engagement of Offenders' Psychological Mechanisms in the Canberra RISE Drinking‐and‐Driving Experiment , 2007 .

[8]  Robert LaRose,et al.  Share, Steal, or Buy? A Social Cognitive Perspective of Music Downloading , 2007, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[9]  Aron M. Levin,et al.  Deterring illegal downloading: the effects of threat appeals, past behavior, subjective norms, and attributions of harm , 2007 .

[10]  Mark A Elliott,et al.  Using the theory of planned behaviour to predict observed driving behaviour. , 2007, The British journal of social psychology.

[11]  Michael Wenzel,et al.  A Letter from the Tax Office: Compliance Effects of Informational and Interpersonal Justice , 2006 .

[12]  Travis C. Pratt,et al.  The Empirical Status of Deterrence Theory: A Meta-Analysis , 2006 .

[13]  Robert LaRose,et al.  Sharing or Piracy? An Exploration of Downloading Behavior , 2005, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[14]  Jui-Ying Feng,et al.  Nurses' intention to report child abuse in Taiwan: a test of the theory of planned behavior. , 2005, Research in nursing & health.

[15]  Rebecca M. Chory-Assad,et al.  Classroom justice: student aggression and resistance as reactions to perceived unfairness , 2004 .

[16]  Sudip Bhattacharjee,et al.  A Behavioral Model of Digital Music Piracy , 2004, J. Organ. Comput. Electron. Commer..

[17]  J. Long.  Compliance in small claims court: Exploring the factors associated with defendants' level of compliance with mediated and adjudicated outcomes , 2003 .

[18]  Steven L. Blader,et al.  The Group Engagement Model: Procedural Justice, Social Identity, and Cooperative Behavior , 2003, Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

[19]  S. Simpson,et al.  Fair Treatment or Preferred Outcome? The Impact of Police Behavior on Victim Reports of Domestic Violence Incidents , 2003 .

[20]  Tom R. Tyler,et al.  The Role of Procedural Justice and Legitimacy in Shaping Public Support for Policing , 2003 .

[21]  Yuen J. Huo,et al.  Trust in the Law , 2002 .

[22]  Tom R. Tyler,et al.  Psychological models of the justice motive: Antecedents of distributive and procedural justice. , 1994 .

[23]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[24]  T. Tyler,et al.  Why People Obey the Law , 2021 .

[25]  Ted Chiricos,et al.  Perceived risk and social control: Do sanctions really deter? , 1983 .