A Matter of Give and Take?

Perceived Organisational Politics and Organisational Support as Predictors of Counterproductive Work Behaviours

Abstract

Politics has become an unfortunate fact of organisational life and this has resulted in employees exhibiting negative organisational behaviours such as counterproductive work behaviours. The current study investigated the predictive value of perceived organisational politics and perceived organisational support on counterproductive work behaviours among employees in selected local governments in the North central, Nigeria. A total of two hundred (200) volunteer local government employees participated in the study. Consistent with our hypothesised predictive relationship, the results of the hierarchical regression analysis showed that perceived organisational politics positively predicted counterproductive work behaviours among these employees. The result also indicated that high perceived organizational support negatively predicted counterproductive work behaviours. It is recommended that organisations should be wary of its employees that perpetrate dysfunctional politics considering the consequences to both individuals and the organisation. Implications of findings were discussed and suggestions for further studies were highlighted.