Abstract
The gender gap in white-collar crime perpetration is well-established, yet reasons for women’s underrepresentation among this offending group remain disputed. Specifically, scholars debate whether women are socialized against offending or whether they simply lack the opportunity to engage in these types of crime. The current study focuses on the socialization perspective, looking beyond one’s gender assigned at birth and instead looking at gender identity, threats to that identity, and the interaction of race and gender identity. Using an online, experimental vignette design depicting embezzlement, we find that gender identity influences the likelihood of crime perpetration even when one’s opportunity to commit crime is held constant. Future directions for research and theoretical development into gender and white-collar crime are discussed following a presentation of the results.
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Notes
In total, three participants identified as transmen and four participants identified as “other.” Due to the small sample sizes in these gender categories, these participants were excluded from subsequent analyses.
Bem’s (1974) initial study of the measure on college students indicated that men scored 4.97 on the masculinity and 4.44 on femininity subscales. For women, these scores were 4.57 and 5.01, respectively. In the current study, men scored an average of 4.55 on masculinity and 4.24 for femininity. Women scored 4.26 in masculinity and 4.71 in femininity. Therefore, the averages between this sample and Bem’s (1974) original study generally align.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Tereza Trejbalová for her comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. We would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful and helpful comments.
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This study was funded by the Criminal Justice Graduate Research Fund Award given by the College of Urban Affairs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
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Appendix A. Embezzlement vignette scenario
Appendix A. Embezzlement vignette scenario
You hold a middle-management position within the Accounting Department at a Fortune 500 company.
In total, you oversee 20 employees in your department. Each of these employees has access to different financial accounts for the company. As a manager, you have access to all of the accounts handled by your employees. This access allows you to transfer company funds to accounts both within and outside of the company.
Your department handles the transaction of thousands of dollars on a daily basis, in which only a company audit would likely identify any improper transactions. Because of this, a small transaction of only a few thousand dollars would likely go unnoticed.
In terms of probabilities (from 0% = no chance at all to 110% = you would be certain to do this), how likely are you to transfer money to your personal account?
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Reed, S.M., Rorie, M.L. More than “male” and “female”: the role of gender identity in white-collar offending intentions. Crime Law Soc Change 80, 79–103 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-023-10074-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-023-10074-1