Gender differentiates the predictors of an intention to leave the workplace: a meta-analysis of the effort-reward imbalance workplace stress studies

Abstract

Workplace stress is related to job turnover and intention to leave (ITL) the job and/or profession. The specific mechanisms that drive this association have received less attention, however substantive research using the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) workplace stress model provides an avenue to address this issue and inform workplace interventions to improve employee retention. Our meta-analysis of the associations of components of the ERI model with ITL (k = 23, N = 73,671) demonstrated that low rewards (r = -.41, CI: -.46, -.37) were more associated with an ITL than ERI (r =.33 CI:.27,.38), overcommitment (r =.26, CI:.21,.31), and effort (r =.25, CI:.20,.30). Moderation analysis showed that females were more likely than males to report ITL when effort was high and that males were more likely to report an ITL the profession when rewards were low. Although all components of the ERI model were related cross-sectionally with ITL, prospective designs that target male-dominated professions are required to assess if the findings are robust.