Introjected regulation and employee adaptive performance. Moderating role of organizational culture: evidence from some selected secondary schools in kano state

Abstract

Employee adaptive performance has become a critical determinant of organizational effectiveness in the face of increasingly complex and volatile work environments. In the secondary school of Kano State, teachers are continuously confronted with demands for pedagogical flexibility, curricular adaptation, and professional resilience. Yet the motivational conditions under which adaptive performance is sustained or undermined remain empirically understudied in this context. This study examines the effect of introjected regulation on employee adaptive performance among teachers in selected secondary schools in Kano State, Nigeria, and investigates the moderating role of organizational culture on this relationship. Utilizing a correlational survey research design, the study involved a sample of 150 teachers from five selected secondary schools within Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State. Data were collected using a validated, structured questionnaire adapted from previous studies, while Self-Determination Theory was adopted as the guiding theoretical framework. Two hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis with the aid of SPSS version 23. The findings revealed that introjected regulation had a moderate positive and significant effect on employee adaptive performance (β = .29, t = 3.40, p = .001), indicating that internalized pressures such as the desire for approval or avoidance of guilt can moderately enhance adaptive behaviors among secondary school teachers. Furthermore, organizational culture significantly moderated this relationship, such that the positive effect of introjected regulation on adaptive performance was stronger among teachers in schools with higher involvement, consistency, adaptability, and mission-driven cultural profiles. Based on these results, the study recommends the institutionalization of constructive professional recognition and accountability mechanisms to positively channel introjected motivation, and deliberate investment in building participatory, mission-aligned school cultures to amplify the adaptive performance gains associated with introjected regulation.