Given this research gap, this dissertation explicitly focuses on pay communication and the impact pay secrecy and/or pay openness has on employees attitudes and behaviors. Pay communication consists of two main aspects. First, pay communication refers to the compensation practice that determines when, how, and which pay information (such as pay ranges, pay raises, pay averages, individual pay levels, pay processes, and/or the entire pay structure) is distributed and communicated to employees and possibly to outsiders. This aspect is called organizational restrictions. The second aspect of pay communication, called employee restrictions, refers to whether discussions involving pay information are permitted amongst employees and also with outsiders. Pay communication resides along a continuum as organizations vary in the amount and type of pay information they provide to employees. Pay secrecy and pay openness are the two anchors of the pay communication continuum. Generally, pay openness is a compensation practice that allows employees to discuss their pay information amongst each other (and possibly outsiders) while the organization distributes most, if not all, pay information to employees on a regular basis or upon request; whereas, pay secrecy involves prohibiting the distribution and communication of most, if not all, pay information to employees (and possibly outsiders). Each of the following chapters is dedicated to advancing knowledge about pay communication and complements the existing pay secrecy and pay openness research. Chapter 2 provides a thorough analysis of the pay communication literature in the management discipline. Based on prior literature, a definitive description of pay communication is provided. A broader analysis of pay secrecy (opposed to pay openness) practices is given since it is the practice primarily focused on in the pay communication literature. Specifically, an overview of pay secrecys legality and benefits and costs are discussed. Prior research is summarized to provide an overview of the previously-analyzed employee and organizational outcomes affected by pay secrecy and/or pay openness practices. Future directions are offered to extend and further develop the pay communication literature. Chapter 3 focuses on the development and validation of a pay communication measure with pay secrecy and pay openness representing the extremes. This assessment is necessary to determine the extent to which an organizations pay communication resembles pay secrecy or pay openness and to advance the literature by investigating the impact pay secrecy and/or pay openness practices have on different organizational outcomes and employee attitudes and behaviors. Three multistage studies were conducted to substantiate the pay communication scale. The first study consisted of generating a pool of items that encompassed the entire domain of pay communication and having management academicians review and assess these items for refinement. The second study further refined the items by analyzing the inter-item correlations, variances, and factor loadings of each item in an exploratory factor analysis. In the third study, the proposed scale and dimensionality of the remaining items was confirmed by using confirmatory factor analysis and construct validation was determined. Chapter 4 attempts to identify ways pay communication (specifically, pay secrecy) impacts different employee attitudes and behaviors. This study utilizes the pay communication (pay secrecy and pay openness) scale developed in Chapter 3. Following equity theory (Adams 1965), uncertainty management theory (Lind and van den Bos 2002; van den Bos and Lind 2002), and reactance theory (Brehm 1966), pay secrecy is expected to positively influence workplace deviance. Additionally, the pay secrecy-workplace deviance relationship was expected to be mediated by several variables. Specifically, distributive justice (based on equity theory; (Adams 1965)), procedural justice (based on fairness heuristic theory; (Lind 2001)), informational justice (based on fairness heuristic theory; (Lind 2001)), interpersonal justice (based on fairness heuristic theory; (Lind 2001)), managerial trust and organizational trust (based on social exchange theory; (Blau 1964)) were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between pay secrecy and workplace deviance. Based on power dependence theory (Emerson 1972; Molm 2003), continuance commitment is also proposed to moderate the relationship between pay secrecy and workplace deviance such that the relationship between pay secrecy and workplace deviance will be mitigated, if not eliminated.

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