ETHICAL CLIMATE, JOB PRESSURE, AND COUNTERPRODUCTIVE WORK BEHAVIOUR AMONG FACULTY MEMBERS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF NEUTRALIZATION
1Michael Olalekan Adeoti, 1Emmanuel Adesola Oluremi, 1Azubuike Aham Samuel & 2Kabiru Maitama Kura
1Department of Business Administration and Management
Federal Polytechnic Bida, Niger State, Nigeria
2UTB School of Business
University of Teknologi Brunei, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410
Brunei Darussalam
ABSTRACT: Extant research linking ethical climate and job pressure to counterproductive work behaviour have consistently yielded significant results. However, the psychological mechanism that underlies the relationships between ethical climate, job pressure and counterproductive work behaviour remains unclear. We addressed this knowledge gap by examining the mediating role of neutralization in the relationships between ethical climate, job pressure and counterproductive work behaviour. The proposed model was tested by applying variance-based structural equation modelling to data collected from 356 academic faculty members of two ethnically diverse public universities in Nigeria. As expected, the results showed that both ethical climate and job pressure were significant predictors of counterproductive work behaviour. Additionally, the results established that the relationships between ethical climate and counterproductive work behaviour is mediated by neutralization. In the same vein, the results showed that job pressure triggers neutralization, which in turn, predicts counterproductive work behaviour.
Keywords: Ethical climate, job pressure, counterproductive work behaviour, neutralization