Does ethical leadership reduce turnover intention? The mediating effects of psychological empowerment and organizational identification

ABSTRACT

This study aims to explore the direct and indirect effects of ethical leadership on turnover intention in the banking industry in Jordan. Specifically, the mediating effects of psychological empowerment and organizational identification in the relationship between ethical leadership and turnover intention were investigated. Questionnaire surveys were administered to middle and top managers in the banking industry and a purposive sample of 324 managers were selected for the present study. Validity and reliability analyses were first carried-out, followed by a multiple regression analysis to test the hypotheses. The results of data analysis confirmed that ethical leadership negatively affects turnover intention. It was also confirmed that both psychological empowerment and organizational identification partially mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and turnover intention. This study contributes to the existing body of literature on ethical leadership by testing-out a more comprehensive model explaining the role of psychological empowerment and organizational identification in the relationship between ethical leadership and turnover intention. Furthermore, because this study’s variables have been widely investigated in developed countries, it was deemed worthwhile to apply the model in a developing country such as Jordan to provide empirical evidence from a non-western context.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethical leadership
• organizational identification
• psychological empowerment
• turnover intention
• Jordan
• banking industry