Effect of job burnout on workplace deviant behaviour among university academic staff

Workplace deviant behaviour as a phenomenon has been on the increase among academic staff of universities. Job burnout has been recognized as the main contributor of academic staffs` engagement of workplace deviance which has cast negative consequences on the university system and impedes the achievement of its goals and objectives. Consequently, this study emerges to determine the effect of job burnout on workplace deviant behaviour among the academic staff of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. The study in essence investigated the effect of the dimensions of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization on workplace deviant behaviour. 458 sample from the population of 2258 academic staff of ABU Zaria across its 17 faculties were drawn via proportionate stratified sampling technique. Data were collected through questionnaire. The study employed Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling to test the hypotheses developed for the study at 5% level of significance. Findings revealed that both emotional exhaustion and depersonalization have significant positive effect on workplace deviant behaviour among academic staff. The study therefore recommends that Federal Government should lift the embargo placed on hiring academic staff in the university and the university authority should utilize individual level burnout intervention strategies that will improve academic staff`s ability to cope with workplace stressors. The study therefore concluded that workplace deviant behaviour among academic staff is majorly predicted by job burnout.