The Moderating Role of Organizational Justice in Mitigating Psychological Resignation in The Academic Environment: An Analytical Study of Staff Opinions in Iraqi Universities

The increasing challenges faced by the contemporary academic environment manifest themselves through different dimensions such as the emotional commitment of the workforce and the maintenance of intellectual vitality which are the major drivers for innovation. Nevertheless, there is the appearance of a different phenomenon psychological resignation, whereby the workforce is emotionally absent even though physically present. This is a silent threat affecting the performance of the workforce. In the absence of knowledge regarding the organizational mechanisms that can help manage the issue, the current research seeks to understand the role played by organizational justice in managing psychological resignation. A total of 255 academic and administrative staff members provided the required responses for evaluating the effectiveness of organizational justice dimensions, namely distributive, procedural, and interactional justice in managing psychological resignation. The results revealed that there is a statistically significant preventive and inverse role played by overall organizational justice (β = -0.249, P < 0.01). Among these, procedural justice had the most significant impact on managing psychological resignation (β = -0.156, P < 0.05) followed by interactional justice, while distributive justice had no significant role A significant paradox emerged from the analysis, whereby the highest percentage of psychological resignation was reported by the staff working in scientific departments with specializations in administration (M = 2.75) compared to those working in medical departments (M = 2.30) This is because they experience cognitive dissonance between their cognitive expertise and the procedural marginalization they experience. In conclusion, it is evident that procedural transparency and professional respect are far more significant than financial rewards for evoking passion and preventing psychological resignation. These findings are significant and direct the research and practice towards the need for developing strategies for fostering and promoting talent, rather than relying on financial rewards.