Work Stressors and Intention to Leave the Current Workplace and Profession: The Mediating Role of Negative Affect at Work

Abstract

The first aim of this study was to determine whether organisational constraints, interpersonal conflicts at work, workload and negative affect at work have a positive relationship with intention to leave a current job or profession. The second aim was to investigate whether negative affect at work mediates the relationship between work stressors and intention to leave a current job or profession. The study was a quantitative cross-sectional design in nature. Data were collected between March and April 2022. The sample consisted of 306 midwives working in the Polish public health service. The theoretical model was tested using structural equation modelling. The results confirmed positive direct relationships between workload and negative affect with intention to leave the current workplace and intention to leave the midwifery profession in general. The relationships between organisational constraints and interpersonal conflicts at work and intention to leave a job or profession were found to be completely mediated by negative affect at work. Our study revealed that workload is the strongest direct predictor of intention to leave the current job or profession. Organisational constraints and interpersonal conflicts at work lead to an intention to leave a job or profession by inducing negative affect at work. Interpersonal conflicts at work are the strongest predictor of negative affect at work.