Extant empirical researches on deviant workplace behaviour have concentrated on negative deviant acts directed simultaneously towards both the organizations (organizational) and its members (interpersonal) while others solely focused on deviant behaviours directed at organization and its attributes (organizational deviance). However, no published studies have investigated interpersonal deviance as a main antecedent without considering organizational deviance. Drawing from the theory of neutralization and job demand control model, the present study examined the mediating role of neutralization on the relationships between ISSN 2162-3058 2017 http://ijhrs.macrothink.org 2 workload, work pressure and interpersonal deviance. The data was obtained from 356 academics in public universities in Nigeria. Using partial least square structural equation modeling, results revealed that workload and work pressure were significantly related to interpersonal deviance. On the other hand, neutralization significantly mediated the positive relationship between workload and interpersonal deviance. Similarly, neutralization mediated the relationship between work pressure and interpersonal deviance. Conclusively, it is essential to review the existing workloads and working conditions of faculty members in Nigerian public tertiary institutions with a view of minimizing interpersonal deviance. International Journal of Human Resource Studies

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