article · Psychology International
Employees who encounter dysfunctional workplaces sometimes choose to stay in their roles while withdrawing discretionary effort, a phenomenon known as quiet quitting. An investigation of 147 staff members at a federal university in Nigeria examined how workplace politics influences quiet quitting through psychological contract breaches and perceived job security. The results demonstrate that perceived organisational politics significantly predicts quiet quitting, both directly and indirectly. A psychological contract breach, where employees feel implicit employment commitments have been broken, partially mediates this relationship. Conversely, although organisational politics correlates slightly with perceived job security, job security itself does not predict quiet quitting or act as a mediator. These outcomes show that workers withdraw extra effort mainly because organisational politics represents a breakdown in mutual obligations, rather than out of anxiety over losing their positions.
Workplace politics can harm institutional performance by driving staff to withhold discretionary work without formally resigning. Understanding that this withdrawal stems from broken mutual obligations rather than worries about job security allows organisations to direct interventions accurately. Leaders seeking to curb quiet quitting must focus on honouring psychological contracts and workplace commitments rather than relying solely on assurances of employment security.
Human resource managers and institutional leaders seeking to reduce quiet quitting can use these findings to guide workplace management strategies. The research indicates that management efforts should focus on fulfilling psychological contracts and implicit employment obligations. As an empirical survey study of 147 university employees, this work represents early-stage conceptual evidence rather than a tested intervention or ready-to-deploy human resource management tool.
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Employees do not always respond to dysfunctional workplaces by leaving; increasingly, they remain in their jobs while quietly withdrawing the discretionary effort that organizations depend on. Little is known about why some employees respond to political work environments in this way. Drawing on Psychological Contract Theory and Conservation of Resources Theory, this study examined whether psychological contract breach (PCB) and perceived job security (PJS) explain how perceived organizational politics (POPS) translates into quiet quitting (QQ). A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 147 employees drawn from a convenience sample at a selected federal university in Nigeria. Data were analyzed using Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Model 4). The findings revealed that POPS significantly predicted QQ (β = 0.51, p < 0.001). When both mediators were entered simultaneously, the direct effect remained significant (β = 0.43, p < 0.001), indicating partial mediation. PCB significantly mediated the relationship between POPS and QQ (β = 0.079, 95% CI [0.0151, 0.1401]), whereas PJS did not. Although POPS was positively associated with PJS (β = 0.09, p < 0.001), PJS did not significantly predict QQ. These findings indicate that employees withdraw discretionary effort primarily because organizational politics signals a failure to fulfil implicit employment obligations, rather than because of concerns about job security. To reduce QQ, organizations need to move beyond preserving employment security and strengthen fulfilment of psychological contract obligations.
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DOI: 10.3390/psycholint8030055
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