Factors Affecting the Turnover Intention of Dental Hygienists: Emotional Labor, Job Satisfaction, and Social Support

Abstract

This study aims to contribute to managing the human resource of dental hygienists and qualitatively enhancing dental medical services by examining factors that affect their turnover intention. Therefore, it attempted to examine their degrees of emotional labor, job satisfaction, and social support and the effects of each variable on turnover intention. This study administered self-reporting questionnaires to dental hygienists working in dental hospitals, dental clinics, and general or university hospitals in Seoul Metropolis and Gyeonggi-do by conducting convenience sampling, from May 18, 2017 to August 4, 2017. Among a total of 224 copies that were distributed, a total of 223 copies, excluding 1 copy with poor responses, were used in the data analysis. The research tools comprised 12 questions on general characteristics, 24 questions on emotional labor (4-point Likert scale), 16 questions on job satisfaction (5-point Likert scale), 8 questions on social support (4-point Likert scale), and 4 questions on turnover (5-point Likert scale). The scores of dental hygienists were as follows: emotional labor, 2.49 out of 4; job satisfaction, 3.14 out of 5; social support, 3.04 out of 4; and turnover intention, 3.07 out of 5. Their turnover intention has a positive correlation with emotional labor, but a negative correlation with job satisfaction and social support. It was found that some factors that significantly influence turnover intention included the amount of overtime work and job satisfaction. Thus, dental medical institutes should search for measures, including improvement of the working environment, to reduce the amount of overtime work and enhance job satisfaction.