THE IMPACT OF CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT AND ITS DIMENSIONS ON TOXIC LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION SECTOR OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

Toxic leadership has serious and persistent consequences for individual, team and organization. This study is designed to investigate the influence of conducive environment dimensions i.e.  absence of check and balance, favoritism, instability, general organization negative culture, instability, perceived threat and unethical values on toxic leadership. Using structure questionnaire and two stage cluster sampling techniques, data were collected from teachers working in government Higher and Higher Secondary school of Malakand Division Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A total N=376 complete responses were considered for data analysis, using Partial Least Square Structure Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results exhibited that a conducive environment dimensions i.e. absence of check and balance, favoritism, instability, general organization negative culture, instability, perceived threat positive and significantly influenced toxic leadership, however, the results for ethical values were not significant. Theoretically, this research contributes to dark leadership literature confirming the dimensional level nexus of conducive environment and toxic leadership. Practically, this study highlights the significance of environmental characteristics in developing and persistence of toxic leadership in education sector of Pakistan.

Keywords: Toxic Leadership, Conducive Environment, Education.