Psychological Contract Breach and Organisational Deviance Among Employees in Nigerian Public Universities: Mediating Role of Trust

This study examines the relationship between psychological contract breach and organisational deviance among employees in Nigerian public universities, with institutional trust as a proposed mediator. Nigerian public universities have been sites of recurring promises made by government regarding improved funding, facilities, and remuneration that frequently go unfulfilled, creating conditions for widespread psychological contract violation. The study draws on a sample of 280 academic and non-academic staff from six federal universities spread across all geopolitical zones, selected through stratified random sampling. A validated Psychological Contract Breach Scale, an Organisational Trust Inventory, and the Bennett and Robinson Workplace Deviance Scale serve as the primary instruments. The Social Exchange Theory and Psychological Contract Theory jointly provide the theoretical framework, with bootstrap mediation analysis employed using PROCESS macro. Findings confirm that psychological contract breach is a significant positive predictor of both interpersonal and organisational deviance. Institutional trust fully mediates the breach-deviance relationship, indicating that breach increases deviance primarily through its erosive effect on employee trust in university administration. The study also identifies repeated non-implementation of negotiated agreements as the primary breach trigger, with salary irregularities and facility deterioration as secondary antecedents. Recommendations include improving government commitment reliability, developing formal mechanisms for communicating implementation delays, and investing in trust-repair interventions following contract violations. This research contributes theoretically grounded evidence on breach dynamics in Nigeria's crisis-affected university system. Keywords: Psychological Contract, Organisational Deviance, Public Universities, Trust, Nigeria.