Perceived Toxic Leadership and Institutional Conspiracy a sPredictors of Psychological Distress among University Employees in Akwa Ibom State
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Abstract
Toxic leadership and institutional conspiracy are areas of growing interest in organizational research. This study explored perceived toxic leadership and institutional conspiracy as predictors of psychological distress among employees in tertiary institutions in Akwa Ibom State. The participants in the study comprised two hundred employees drawn from University of Uyo, Uyo and Akwa Ibom State University Ikot Akpaden, Mkpat Enin Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. They included 105 (52.5%) males and 95 (47.5%) females. Theirages ranged between 18-68 years, with mean age of 41.3 years. The study utilized random sampling and purposive sampling techniques to select the organizations and the participants respectively. Three instruments were used: Shortened Version of Perceived Toxic Leadership,Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire and Kessler psychological distress scale. The study adopted ex-post facto design and multiple regression served as appropriate statistics for analyses of the data. The Study results showed that perceived toxic leadership significantly predicted psychological distress among University employees. However institutional conspiracy did not significantly predict psychological distress among the studied population. Based on the findings, the study recommends that appropriate mechanisms should be created to promote self-management and resilience of the employees
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