Why do they leave? the mechanism linking employees’ psychological capital to their turnover intention

Abstract

In this study, the influence mechanism of psychological capital on employees’ turnover intention has been revealed by a moderated mediation model based on conservation of resource theory. 600 employees from seven branches of a high-tech corporation group located at Beijing and Hangzhou were involved in this survey. Regression analysis and moderated path analysis were adopted and the results show that: (a) psychological capital is negatively associated with employees’ turnover intention; (b) this association is fully mediated by role stress; and (c) organizational support moderates not only the influence of psychological capital on role stress, but also the mediating effect of role stress on the association between psychological capital and employees’ turnover intention. The results implicate that that employees’ psychological capital can decrease turnover intention by alleviating their role stress; meanwhile, organizational support positively exacerbates the decrease of psychological capital on turnover intention. Our results can provide guidance to improve human resource management practices for Chinese enterprises in future.