Panopticon Perceptions and Work Engagement Among Airline Employees: The Role of Surveillance in Employee Motivation

Year 2025, Volume: 9 Issue: 3, 640 - 647

Ahmet Selim Süzer

https://doi.org/10.30518/jav.1709289

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of airline employees’ perceptions of workplace surveillance, conceptualized through the Panopticon, on their work engagement. The study employed a quantitative research design with a sample of 305 airline employees working in Istanbul, including cabin crew, flight crew, ground services, technical staff, and administrative personnel. Data were collected using the Panopticon Scale, which measures Positive Panopticon, Negative Panopticon, External Responsibility, and Awareness of Being Watched, and the short form of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9), which evaluates vigor, dedication, and absorption. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and linear regression to examine the relationships between Panopticon perceptions and work engagement levels. The findings indicate that Positive Panopticon perception significantly enhances overall work engagement and its sub-dimensions, particularly vigor and absorption, by creating a sense of security and motivating employees to perform tasks more effectively. In contrast, Negative Panopticon perception was found to reduce work engagement and vigor, increasing stress and decreasing job satisfaction. Awareness of being watched positively affected employees’ vigor but did not have a statistically significant impact on dedication, absorption, or overall engagement. These results suggest that surveillance policies should be carefully designed and communicated in a transparent and supportive manner, as positive perceptions can strengthen motivation and performance, whereas negative perceptions may undermine employee commitment and well-being.

Keywords

Panopticon Perception , Work Engagement , Positive and Negative Panopticon , Surveillance , Employee Motivation

Ethical Statement

No ethical statment

Supporting Institution

no

Thanks

no

References

• Alafeshat, R. and Tanova, C. (2019) ‘Servant leadership style and high-performance work system practices: Pathway to a sustainable Jordanian airline industry’, Sustainability, 11(22), p. 6191.
• Alola, U.V. and Alafeshat, R. (2021) ‘The impact of human resource practices on employee engagement in the airline industry’, Journal of Public Affairs, 21(1), e2135.
• Ball, K. (2022) ‘Surveillance in the workplace: Past, present, and future’, Surveillance and Society.
• Bentham, J. (2020) The Panopticon Writings. Verso Books.
• Bevno, M., Hvorecký, J. and Šimúth, J. (2021) ‘E-PANOPTICON of face-to-display workers: From the office to the home’, Ad Alta: Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 11(1).
• Bıyıkbeyi, T. (2019) Panoptikon algısının çalışanlar üzerindeki etkisi: İşe adanmışlık ve tükenmişlik üzerine bir araştırma. Doktora Tezi, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İşletme Anabilim Dalı, Kahramanmaraş.
• Brunon-Ernst, A. (2016) Beyond Foucault: New Perspectives on Bentham's Panopticon. Routledge.
• De Moya, J.F. and Pallud, J. (2020) ‘From panopticon to heautopticon: A new form of surveillance introduced by quantified-self practices’, Information Systems Journal, 30(6), pp. 940–976.
• Fetherston, R. and Waldmann, T. (2021) ‘The psychological effect on employees of their increasing surveillance at work’, Irish Ergonomics Society, 44.
• Foucault, M. (2020) ‘Panopticism’, in The Information Society Reader. Routledge, pp. 302–312.
• Galivc, M., Timan, T. and Koops, B.-J. (2017) ‘Bentham, Deleuze and beyond: An overview of surveillance theories from the panopticon to participation’, Philosophy & Technology, 30, pp. 9–37.
• George, D. and Mallery, M. (2010) SPSS for Windows Step by Step: A Simple Guide and Reference, 17.0 update. 10a edn. Boston: Pearson.
• Gosnell, G.K., List, J.A. and Metcalfe, R.D. (2020) ‘The impact of management practices on employee productivity: A field experiment with airline captains’, Journal of Political Economy, 128(4), pp. 1195–1233.
• Hafermalz, E. (2021) ‘Out of the panopticon and into exile: Visibility and control in distributed new culture organizations’, Organization Studies, 42(5), pp. 697–717.
• Hazar, E. (2012) Gözetleme toplumu bağlamında çağdaş sosyal kontrol araçları: Kapalı devre kamera sistemleri ve toplumsal fayda ve maliyetleri Ankara ili örneği. Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Savunma Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Ankara.
• Hess, K. (2021) ‘To serve and inspect: The tragedy of employee well-being in the age of Foucault's discipline’, Geo. JL & Pub. Pol'y, 19, p. 763.
• Hu, H.H.S., Hu, H.Y. and King, B. (2017) ‘Impacts of misbehaving air passengers on frontline employees: Role stress and emotional labor’, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(7), pp. 1793– 1813.
• Hu, J.L. and Ho, C.W. (2016) ‘Service quality and non-salary mechanism for airline companies in Taiwan’, Journal of Air Transport Management, 55, pp. 61–66.
• Ilkhanizadeh, S. and Karatepe, O.M. (2017) ‘An examination of the consequences of corporate social responsibility in the airline industry: Work engagement, career satisfaction, and voice behavior’, Journal of Air Transport Management, 59, pp. 8–17.
• Kim, H., Yu, M. and Hyun, S. (2022) ‘Strategies to improve work attitude and mental health of problem employees: Focusing on airline cabin crew’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(2), p. 768.
• Lee, J.H., Ok, C.M., Lee, S.H. and Lee, C.K. (2018) ‘Relationship between emotional labor and customer orientation among airline service employees: Mediating role of depersonalization’, Journal of Travel Research, 57(3), pp. 324–341.
• Lee, S. and Kim, J.K. (2018) ‘Factors contributing to the risk of airline pilot fatigue’, Journal of Air Transport Management, 67, pp. 197–207.
• Liu, Y. (2017) Employee Monitoring: Workplace as a Panopticon? Thesis Commons.
• Manokha, I. (2019) ‘New means of workplace surveillance: From the gaze of the supervisor to the digitalization of employees’, Monthly Review, 70(9), pp. 25–39.
• Manokha, I. (2020) ‘The implications of digital employee monitoring and people analytics for power relations in the workplace’, Surveillance & Society, 18(4), pp. 540-554.
• Marqueze, E.C., Nicola, A.C.B., Diniz, D.H. and Fischer, F.M. (2017) ‘Working hours associated with unintentional sleep at work among airline pilots’, Revista de Saúde Pública, 51, p. 61.
• Mettler, T. and Naous, D. (2022) ‘Beyond panoptic surveillance: On the ethical dilemmas of the connected workplace’, ECIS
• Nguyen, H.N., Le, Q.H., Tran, Q.B., Tran, T.H.M., Nguyen, T.H.Y. and Nguyen, T.T.Q. (2020) ‘The impact of organizational commitment on employee motivation: A study in Vietnamese enterprises’, The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(6), pp. 439–447.
• Özkalp, E. and Meydan, B. (2015) ‘Schaufeli ve Bakker tarafından geliştirilmiş olan İşe Angaje Olma Ölçeği’nin Türkçe’de güvenilirlik ve geçerlilik analizi’, İş, Güç Endüstri İlişkileri ve İnsan Kaynakları Dergisi, 17(3), pp. 4–19.
• Schaufeli, W.B. and Bakker, A.B. (2002) ‘The measurement of engagement and burnout: A twosample confirmatory factor analytic approach’, Journal of Happiness Studies, 3(1), pp. 71–92.
• Schaufeli, W.B., Bakker, A.B. and Salanova, M. (2006) ‘The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire: A cross-national study’, Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(4), pp. 701–716.
• Shin, L.R. and Hyun, S.S. (2019) ‘Impact of managerial influence tactics on job creativity and performance: A focus on Korean airline service employees’, Sustainability, 11(16), p. 4429.
• Soliman, M.H.A. (2020) ‘The Toyota way to effective strategy deployment: How organizations can focus energy on key priorities through Hoshin Kanri to achieve the business goals’, Journal of Operations and Strategic Planning, 3(2), pp. 132–158.
• Tabachnick, B.G. and Fidell, L.S. (2013) Using Multivariate Statistics. 6th edn. Boston: Pearson.
• Vatankhah, S., Javid, E. and Raoofi, A. (2017) ‘Perceived organizational support as the mediator of the relationships between high-performance work practices and counter-productive work behavior: Evidence from airline industry’, Journal of Air Transport Management, 59, pp. 107–115.