Effect of sexual differences on executive compliance with regulation in the banking industry

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: The study extends work by Downey and Greer (1981) on compliance with social legislation. The research utilizes a model based on the theories of Kurt Lewin (1951) to investigate sexual differences in compliance with governmental regulation in the banking industry. Questionnaires were administered to graduate business students at Oklahoma State University. The resultant data were analyzed by stepwise regression and analysis of variance procedures to determine the existence and extent of the relationship between probability of compliance and sex, as well as the underlying forces of the compliance decision.

Findings and Conclusions: Sex of the subject was not found to be a significant predictor of compliance with banking regulations. Likewise, the model was unable in this case to identify the basis for compliance for females. For males, the model was able to identify compliance rationales only when the scenario involved a female decision maker.