Abusive Supervision, Work Tension and Overload as Predictors of Counter Productive Work Behaviour.

ABSTRACT

The study investigated abusive supervision, work tension and work overload as predictors of counter productive work behaviour (CWB). Three hundred and one (301) secondary school teachers participated, who were randomly drawn from Urban Girls Secondary School, Nsukka; Nsukka High School, Nsukka; St. Teresa’s College, Nsukka; Queen of the Rosary Secondary School, Nsukka; Community Secondary School Obukpa, Nsukka; Model Secondary School, Nsukka and Community Secondary School Isienu, Nsukka. Their age ranged between 25years to 59years and above. These teachers were accidentally sampled. Four instruments were used: Abusive Supervision Scale designed by Tapper (2000), Work Tension Scale designed by House and Rizzo (2013), Work Overload Scale designed by Kaplan (2006) and Counter Work Productive Behaviour Scale designed by Suzy and Spector (2003). Three hypotheses were stated and tested. The result of the multiple regression analysis showed that all the null hypotheses were rejected implying that the abusive supervision, work tension and work overload all significantly predicted CWB; abusive supervision (β = .24, t = 4.10, P < 0.05), work tension (β = .21, t = .20, P < 0.001) and work overload (β = .22, t = .10, P < 0.001). It was however concluded that abusive supervision of any kind and degree, work tension as well as work overload by this research are associated with CWB. Implications and limitations were discussed and suggestions were made for further studies.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page i

Certification ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgement iv

Table of Contents v

List of Tables vii

Abstract viii

CHAPTER ONE 1

Introduction 1

Statement of the problem 10

Purpose of the Study 11

Operational Definition of Terms 11

CHAPTER TWO 12

Literature Review 12

Theoretical Review 12

Retaliation Theory 12

Organizational Culture Theory 13

Role Stressors Theory 15

Role Specificity and Role Ambiguity Theory 17

Emotional Experience versus Affective Dispositions Theory 17

Empirical Review 19

Abusive Supervision and Counterproductive Work Behavior 19

Work Tension and Counterproductive Work Behavior 24

Work Overload and Counterproductive Work Behavior 27

Summary of Literature Review 32

Hypotheses 33

CHAPTER THREE 34

Method 34

Participants 34

Instruments 34

Procedure 36

Designs/Statistics 37

CHAPTER FOUR 38

Result 38

CHAPTER FIVE 40

Discussion 40

Implications of the Study 43

Limitations of the Study 43

Recommendations 44

Summary 44

Conclusion 45

References 46

Appendix 52