Organizational toxicity at higher education: Its sources, effects and coping strategies

The overall purpose of this research was to understand and determine the organizational toxicity perceptions of instructors, the perceived effects of toxicity and the strategies to cope with organizational toxicity. The study had an exploratory mixed method design, in which firstly quantitative and then qualitative data were collected. The study group of the qualitative research which was conducted on phenomenological research design was comprised of 40 faculty members who were working at various departments at Akdeniz University and who were chosen through "snowball or chain" sampling technique. Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured individual interview form created based on literature review, expert opinion and pilot interviews and the data were analyzed using descriptive analysis method. The target population of the quantitative study which adopted the correlational and causal-comparative survey model that were among relational screening models was comprised of 3549 people working at various academic units at Akdeniz University, Mehmet Akif Ersoy University and Süleyman Demirel University. The data were collected from 707 faculty members. Qualitative data of the study were collected via "Organizational Toxicity Scale", "Perceived Effects of Toxicity Scale" and "Coping Strategies with Toxicity" which were developed by the researcher based on quantitative research findings and literature review. According to the qualitative results of the study, faculty members' views on organizational toxicity were examined within the framework of the sub-themes which were narcissistic, aggressive, unethical and rigid behaviors; their views regarding the perceived effects of toxicity were examined under the sub-themes of draining, psychologically recurring and disconnecting; and their viewpoints about coping with toxicity were examined in the framework of the sub-themes which were avoidance, resistance, social support and conflict. According to the quantitative findings of the research, toxicity arising from unethical behaviors was found to predict the dimensions of draining, psychologically recurring and disconnecting and toxicity resulting from rigid behaviors was found to predict the dimension of draining significantly. In addition, it was revealed that resistance strategy was predicted by toxicity stemming from narcissistic, unethical and rigid behaviors and the dimension of disconnecting; social support strategy was predicted by toxicity arising from narcissistic, unethical and rigid behaviors and all the dimensions that created the perceived effects of toxicity; avoidance strategy was predicted by toxicity arising from unethical behaviors and the dimension of draining; and conflict strategy was predicted by toxicity dimension resulting from rigid behaviors. In addition, organizational toxicity perceptions of demographic variables that were selected, the perceived effects of toxicity and their effects on coping strategies with organizational toxicity were examined in the study, as well. Key words: Organizational Toxicity, Perceived Effects of Toxicity, Coping Strategies with Toxicity, Higher Education, Faculty Members