Effort-Reward Imbalance and Turnover Intention: The Roles of Organizational Justice Perception and Job Mobility

Year 2023, Volume: 43 Issue: 3, 499 - 522, 25.12.2023

Sevgi Emirza

https://doi.org/10.26650/SP2022-1117901

Abstract

Stress at work is a common problem in modern workplaces, and companies that want to promote a positive and productive work environment must understand and address the destructive effects of stress on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. In work stress literature, effort-reward imbalance (ERI) emerges as an important stressor that affects important employee outcomes at organizations. While previous research has provided abundant evidence regarding the effect of ERI on turnover intention, there is a lack of knowledge about the specific mechanisms and conditions that explain this relationship. Considering this gap in the literature this study attempts to integrate the ERI approach with equity theory to explore how ERI results in increased turnover intention. Specifically, this work proposes that the influence of ERI, which is an important work stressor, on turnover intention is mediated through organizational justice perception, and that the strength of this indirect relationship is moderated by job mobility. The proposed moderated-mediation model was tested on data collected from 147 white-collar workers through online questionnaires. Results of regression analysis demonstrated that ERI is negatively related to organizational justice perception. Moreover, findings indicated that ERI indirectly predicts employees’ turnover intention through organizational justice perception. Results also displayed that the indirect effect of ERI on turnover intention through justice perception is stronger when employees perceive higher job mobility. Overall, this research provides evidence that ERI as a work stressor negatively influences employees’ attitudes about their jobs and organizations, and that the strength of this negative effect is shaped by employees’ perception of job mobility. The current research contributes to the stress literature by presenting an integrative model incorporating the ERI approach and equity theory.

Keywords

Stress, effort-reward imbalance, organizational justice, equity theory, turnover intention, job mobility

Çaba-Ödül Dengesizliği ve İşten Ayrılma Niyeti İlişkisinde Örgütsel Adalet Algısının ve İş Hareketliliğinin Rolü

Abstract

İş stresi, modern işyerlerinde yaygın bir sorundur ve pozitif ve üretken bir çalışma ortamını teşvik etmek isteyen şirketlerin, stresin çalışanların tutum ve davranışları üzerindeki yıkıcı etkilerini anlamaları ve çözüm bulmaları gerekmektedir. İş stresi literatüründe çaba-ödül dengesizliği (ÇÖD), organizasyonlarda çalışanlara ait önemli sonuçları etkileyen önemli bir stres etkeni olarak ortaya çıkmaktadır. Önceki araştırmalar ÇÖD’ün işten ayrılma niyeti üzerindeki etkisine ilişkin çok sayıda kanıt sağlarken, bu ilişkiyi açıklayan spesifik mekanizmalar ve koşullar hakkında yeteri kadar bilgi bulunmamaktadır. Bu eksikliği göz önünde tutan bu çalışma, ÇÖD’ün işten ayrılma niyetinin artmasına nasıl yol açtığını araştırmak amacıyla çaba-ödül dengesizliği yaklaşımını eşitlik kuramı ile bütünleştirmektedir. Bu çalışma, önemli bir iş stresi kaynağı olan ÇÖD’ün işten ayrılma niyeti üzerindeki etkisinin örgütsel adalet algısı aracılığıyla gerçekleştiğini ve bu dolaylı ilişkinin gücünün iş hareketliliği tarafından biçimlendirildiğini öne sürmektedir. Önerilen durumsal aracılık modelini test etmek için çevrimiçi anket yoluyla 147 beyaz yakalı çalışandan veri toplanmıştır. Regresyon analizi sonuçları, bir stres kaynağı olan ÇÖD’ün örgütsel adalet algısı ile negatif ilişkili olduğunu göstermiştir. Ayrıca bulgular, ÇÖD’ün örgütsel adalet algısı aracılığıyla çalışanların işten ayrılma niyetini dolaylı olarak yordadığını göstermiştir. Sonuçlar ayrıca, ÇÖD’ün çalışanların adalet algısı aracılığıyla işten ayrılma niyeti üzerindeki dolaylı etkisinin, çalışanların daha yüksek iş hareketliliğine sahip olması durumunda daha güçlü olduğunu göstermiştir. Genel olarak, bu araştırma, bir iş stresi kaynağı olarak ÇÖD’ün çalışanların işleri ve kuruluşları hakkındaki tutumlarını olumsuz etkilediğine ve bu olumsuz etkinin gücünün çalışanların iş hareketliliği algısı tarafından şekillendirildiğine dair kanıtlar sunmaktadır. Mevcut araştırma, ÇÖD yaklaşımını ve eşitlik kuramını birleştiren bütünleştirici bir model sunarak stres alan yazınına katkıda bulunmaktadır.

Keywords

Stres, çaba-ödül dengesizliği, örgütsel adalet, eşitlik kuramı, işten ayrılma niyeti, iş hareketliliği

References

• Abuhanoğlu, H. (2016). Çaba-Ödül Dengesizliği (ÇÖD) Ölçeğinin uzun Türkçe formunun geçerlik, güvenirlik çalışması ile sağlık çalışanlarında ÇÖD’ün örgütsel stres ve örgütsel güven üzerindeki etkisinin analizi. (Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi). Gülhane Askeri Tıp Akademisi. google scholar
• Adams, J. S. (1965) Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 267-299). Academic Press. google scholar
• Ahituv, A., & Lerman, R. I. (2011). Job turnover, wage rates, and marital stability: How are they related?. Review of Economics of the Household, 9, 221-249. google scholar
• Allen, D. G., Bryant, P. C., & Vardaman, J. M. (2010). Retaining talent: Replacing misconceptions with evidence-based strategies. Academy of Management Perspectives, 24(2), 48-64. google scholar
• Ambrose, M. L., & Schminke, M. (2009). The role of overall justice judgments in organizational justice research: a test of mediation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(2), 491. google scholar
• APA (American Psychological Association) (2009). Psychologically healthy workplaces have lower turnover, less stress, and higher satisfaction. http://www.apaexcellence.org/assets/general/phwp-chart-2009.pdf (Accessed August 2021). google scholar
• Aryee, S., Budhwar, P. S., & Chen, Z. X. (2002). Trust as a mediator of the relationship between organizational justice and work outcomes: Test of a social exchange model. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23(3), 267-285. google scholar
• Aslan, Ş., & Seda, U. Y. A. R. (2018). Psikolojik sözleşme ihlali ile hissettirdiklerinin örgütsel özdeşleşme, iş tatmini ve işten ayrılma niyeti üzerine etkileri. Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi İktisadi İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 33(1), 1-38. google scholar
• Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2017). Job demands-resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 273-285. google scholar
• Bandalos, D. L., & Finney, S. J. (2001). Item parceling issues in structural equation modeling. In G. A. Marcoulides, & R. E. Schumacker (Eds.), New developments and techniques in structural equation modeling (pp. 269-296). Lawrence Erlbaum google scholar
• Becker, T. E. (2005). Potential problems in the statistical control of variables in organizational research: A qualitative analysis with recommendations. Organizational Research Methods, 8, 274-289 google scholar
• Bentler, P. M., & Yuan, K. H. (1999). Structural equation modeling with small samples: Test statistics. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 34(2), 181-197. google scholar
• Beschoner, P., von Wietersheim, J., Jarczok, M. N., Braun, M., Schönfeldt-Lecuona, C., Viviani, R., Jerg-Bretzke, L., Kempf, M., & Brück, A. (2021). Effort-reward-imbalance, burnout, and depression among psychiatrists 2006 and 2016-changes after a legislative intervention. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 641912. google scholar
• Blau, P. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley google scholar
• Brown, T. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. Guilford Press. google scholar
• Cohen, A. (1999). The relation between commitment forms and work outcomes in Jewish and Arab culture. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 371-391. google scholar
• Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. google scholar
• Colquitt, J. A., Conlon, D. E., Wesson, M. J., Porter, C. O., & Ng, K. Y. (2001). Justice at the Millennium: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of organizational justice research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 425-445. google scholar
• Cropanzano, R., & Mitchell, M. S. (2005). Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 31(6), 874-900. google scholar
• Cropanzano, R., Goldman, B. M., & Benson III, L. (2005). Organizational justice. In J. Barling, E. K. google scholar
• Kelloway, M R. Frone (Eds), Handbook of work stress (pp. 63-87). Sage google scholar
• Cropanzano, R., Rupp, D. E., Mohler, C. J., & Schminke, M. (2001). Three roads to organizational justice. In G. R. Ferris (Ed.), Research in personnel and human resources management, (Vol. 20, pp. 1-123). Elsevier Science/JAI Press. google scholar
• De Vos, A., Forrier, A., Van der Heijden, B., & De Cuyper, N. (2017). Keep the expert! Occupational expertise, perceived employability and job search: A study across age groups. Career Development International, 22(3), 318-332. google scholar
• Derycke, H., Vlerick, P., Burnay, N., Decleire, C., D’Hoore, W., Hasselhorn, H. M., & Braeckman, L. (2010). Impact of the eflOrt-reward imbalance model on intent to leave among Belgian health care workers: A prospective study. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83(4), 879-893. google scholar
• Devonish, D. (2018). Effort-reward imbalance at work: The role of job satisfaction. Personnel Review, 41(2), 319-333. google scholar
• Dorenkamp, I., & WeiB, E. E. (2018). What makes them leave? A path model of postdocs’ intentions to leave academia. Higher Education, 75(5), 747-767. google scholar
• Dragano, N., Siegrist, J., Nyberg, S. T., Lunau, T., Fransson, E. I., Alfredsson, L., ... & Kivimaki, M. (2017). Effort-reward imbalance at work and incident coronary heart disease: A multicohort study of 90,164 individuals. Epidemiology, 28(4), 619-626. google scholar
• Eisenberger, R., Stinglhamber, F., Vandenberghe, C., Sucharski, I. L., & Rhoades, L. (2002). Perceived supervisor support: Contributions to perceived organizational support and employee retention. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), 565-573. google scholar
• Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., & Lang, A. G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G* Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41(4), 1149-1160. google scholar
• Fila, M. J., Purl, J., & Griffeth, R. W. (2017). Job demands, control and support: Meta-analyzing moderator effects of gender, nationality, and occupation. Human Resource Management Review, 27(1), 39-60. google scholar
• Ge, J., He, J., Liu, Y., Zhang, J., Pan, J., Zhang, X., & Liu, D. (2021). Effects of effort-reward imbalance, job satisfaction, and work engagement on self-rated health among healthcare workers. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 1-10. google scholar
• Gouldner, A. W. (1960). The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary statement. American Sociological Review, 25(2), 161-178. google scholar
• Govaerts, N., Kyndt, E., Dochy, F., & Baert, H. (2011). Influence of learning and working climate on the retention of talented employees. Journal of Workplace Learning, 23(1), 35-55. google scholar
• Grawitch, M. J., Trares, S., & Kohler, J. M. (2007). Healthy workplace practices and employee outcomes. International Journal of Stress Management, 14(3), 275-293. google scholar
• Greenberg, J. (1984) On the apocryphal nature of inequity distress. In R. Folger (Ed.), The sense of injustice (pp. 167-188). Plenum google scholar
• Greenberg, J. (1987). A taxonomy of organizational justice theories. Academy of Management Review, 12(1), 9-22. google scholar
• Griffeth, R. W., Hom, P. W., & Gaertner, S. (2000). A meta-analysis of antecedents and correlates of employee turnover: Update, moderator tests, and research implications for the next millennium. Journal of Management, 26(3), 463-488. google scholar
• Hassard, J., Teoh, K. R. H., Visockaite, G., Dewe, P., & Cox, T. (2018). The cost of work-related stress to society: A systematic review. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23(1), 1-17. google scholar
• Holtz, B. C., & Harold, C. M. (2009). Fair today, fair tomorrow? A longitudinal investigation of overall justice perceptions. Journal ofApplied Psychology, 94(5), 1185-1199. google scholar
• Hoven, H., & Siegrist, J. (2013). Work characteristics, socioeconomic position and health: A systematic review of mediation and moderation effects in prospective studies. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 70(9), 663-669. google scholar
• Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1-55. google scholar
• Hu, Q., Schaufeli, W. B., & Taris, T. W. (2011). The job demands-resources model: An analysis of additive and joint effects of demands and resources. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79(1), 181190. google scholar
• Hui, C., Law, K. S., & Chen, Z. X. (1999). A structural equation model of the effects of negative affectivity, leader-member exchange, and perceived job mobility on in-role and extra-role performance: A Chinese case. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 77(1), 3-21. google scholar
• International Labour Organization. (2016). Workplace stress. A collective challenge. https://www. ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---safework/documents/publication/ wcms_466547.pdf google scholar
• Jex, S. M., & Yankelevich, M. (2008). Work stress. In J. Barling & C. L. Cooper (Eds), The SAGE handbook of organizational behavior (pp. 498-518). Sage Publications. google scholar
• Judge, T. A., & Colquitt, J. A. (2004). Organizational justice and stress: The mediating role of work-family conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(3), 395-404. google scholar
• Kachi, Y., Inoue, A., Eguchi, H., Kawakami, N., Shimazu, A., & Tsutsumi, A. (2020). Occupational stress and the risk of turnover: A large prospective cohort study of employees in Japan. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-8. google scholar
• Kacmar, K. M., Andrews, M. C., Van Rooy, D., Steilberg, R. C., & Cerrone, S. (2006). Sure everyone can be replaced but at what cost? Turnover as a predictor of unit-level performance. Academy of Management Journal, 49(1), 133-144. google scholar
• Kinman, G. (2016). Effort-reward imbalance and overcommitment in UK academics: Implications for mental health, satisfaction and retention. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 38(5), 504-518. google scholar
• Kyndt, E., Dochy, F., Michielsen, M., & Moeyaert, B. (2009). Employee retention: Organisational and personal perspectives. Vocations and Learning, 2(3), 195-215. google scholar
• Lang, J., Ochsmann, E., Kraus, T., & Lang, J. W. (2012). Psychosocial work stressors as antecedents of musculoskeletal problems: A systematic review and meta-analysis of stability-adjusted longitudinal studies. Social Science & Medicine, 75(7), 1163-1174. google scholar
• Leineweber, C., Bernhard-Oettel, C., Eib, C., Peristera, P., & Li, J. (2021). The mediating effect of exhaustion in the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and turnover intentions: A 4-year longitudinal study from Sweden. Journal of Occupational Health, 63(1), e12203. google scholar
• Li, J., Galatsch, M., Siegrist, J., Müller, B. H., Hasselhorn, H. M., & European NEXT Study group. (2011). Reward frustration at work and intention to leave the nursing profession—Prospective results from the European longitudinal NEXT study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 48(5), 628-635. google scholar
• Little, T. D., Cunningham, W. A., Shahar, G., & Widaman, K. F. (2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 151-173. google scholar
• Loerbroks, A., Schilling, O., Haxsen, V., Jarczok, M. N., Thayer, J. F., & Fischer, J. E. (2010). The fruits of ones labor: Effort-reward imbalance but not job strain is related to heart rate variability across the day in 35-44-year-old workers. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 69(2), 151-159. google scholar
• Maertz Jr, C. P., & Griffeth, R. W. (2004). Eight motivational forces and voluntary turnover: A theoretical synthesis with implications for research. Journal ofManagement, 30(5), 667-683. google scholar
• Matsunaga, M. (2008). Item parceling in structural equation modeling: A primer. Communication Methods and Measures, 2(4), 260-293. google scholar
• Maurer, T. J., & Lippstreu, M. (2008). Who will be committed to an organization that provides support for employee development?. Journal of Management Development, 27(3), 328-347. google scholar
• Monster, (2014). Dangerously stressful work environments force workers to seek new employment. At https://www.monster.com/about/a/dangerously-stressful-work-environments-force-workers-to-seek-new-empl4162014-d3126696. (Accessed August 2021). google scholar
• Ng, T. W., & Feldman, D. C. (2009). Re-examining the relationship between age and voluntary turnover. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74(3), 283-294. google scholar
• Panatik, S. A. B., Rajab, A., Shaari, R., Saat, M. M., Wahab, S. A., & Noordin, N. F. M. (2012). Psychosocial work condition and work attitudes: Testing of the effort-reward imbalance model in Malaysia. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 40, 591-595. google scholar
• Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 539-569. google scholar
• Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Contemporary approaches to assessing mediation in communication research. In A. F. Hayes, M. D. Slater, & L. B. Snyder (Eds.), The Sage sourcebook of advanced data analysis methods for communication research (pp. 13-54). Sage. google scholar
• Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. (2007). Addressing moderated mediation hypotheses: Theory, methods, and prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 42(1), 185-227. google scholar
• Rasmussen, V., Turnell, A., Butow, P., Juraskova, I., Kirsten, L., Wiener, L., Patenaude, A., Hoekstra-Weebers, J., & Grassi, L. (2016). Burnout among psychosocial oncologists: an application and extension of the effort-reward imbalance model. Psycho-Oncology, 25(2), 194-202. google scholar
• Rubenstein, A. L, Eberly, M. B., Lee, T. W., & Mitchell, T. R. (2018). Surveying the forest: A meta-analysis, moderator investigation, and future-oriented discussion of the antecedents of voluntary employee turnover. Personnel Psychology, 71(1), 23-65. google scholar
• Rugulies, R., Aust, B., & Madsen, I. E. (2017). Effort-reward imbalance at work and risk of depressive disorders. A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 43(4), 294-306. google scholar
• Satoh, M., Watanabe, I., & Asakura, K. (2017). Occupational commitment and job satisfaction mediate effort-reward imbalance and the intention to continue nursing. Japan Journal ofNursing Science, 14(1), 49-60. google scholar
• Schaufeli, W. B., & Taris, T. W. (2014). A critical review of the job demands-resources model: Implications for improving work and health. In G. F. Bauer & O. Hammig (Eds), Bridging occupational, organizational and public health (pp. 43-68). Springer. google scholar
• Shrout, P. E., & Bolger, N. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 7(4), 422-445. google scholar
• Siegrist, J. (1996). Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions. Journal ofOccupational Health Psychology, 1(1), 27-41. google scholar
• Siegrist, J. (2008). Effort-reward imbalance and health in a globalized economy. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 34(6), 163-168. google scholar
• Siegrist, J. (2017). The effort-reward imbalance model. In C. L. Cooper & J. C. Quick (Eds), The handbook of stress and health: A guide to research and practice (pp. 24-35). John Wiley & Sons. google scholar
• Siegrist, J., Starke, D., Chandola, T., Godin, I., Marmot, M., Niedhammer, I., & Peter, R. (2004). The measurement of effort-reward imbalance at work: European comparisons. Social Science & Medicine, 58(8), 1483-1499. google scholar
• Siemsen, E., Roth, A., & Oliveira, P. (2010). Common method bias in regression models with linear, quadratic, and interaction effects. Organizational Research Methods, 13(3), 456-476. google scholar
• Stansfeld, S., & Candy, B. (2006). Psychosocial work environment and mental health—a meta-analytic review. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 32(6), 443-462. google scholar
• Tayfur, O., Bayhan Karapinar, P., & Metin Camgoz, S. (2013). The mediating effects of emotional exhaustion cynicism and learned helplessness on organizational justice-turnover intentions linkage. International Journal of Stress Management, 20(3), 193-221. google scholar
• Tepper, B. J. (2000). Consequences of abusive supervision. Academy of Management Journal, 43(2), 178-190. google scholar
• Tora, I., Martmez, J. M., Benavides, F. G., Leveque, K., & Ronda, E. (2015). Effect of economic recession on psychosocial working conditions by workers’ nationality. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 21(4), 328-332. google scholar
• Trevor, C. O. (2001). Interactions among actual ease-of-movement determinants and job satisfaction in the prediction of voluntary turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 44(4), 621-638. google scholar
• Van Breukelen, W., Van der Vlist, R., & Steensma, H. (2004). Voluntary employee turnover: Combining variables from the ‘traditional’ turnover literature with the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(7), 893-914. google scholar
• Wayne, S. J., Shore, L. M., & Liden R. C. (1997). Perceived Organizational Support and Leader Member Exchange: A Social Exchange Perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 40, 82- 111. google scholar
• Wheeler, A. R., Gallagher, V C., Brouer, R. L., & Sablynski, C. J. (2007). When person-organization (mis) fit and (dis) satisfaction lead to turnover: The moderating role of perceived job mobility. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(2), 203-219. google scholar
• Zeynel, E., & Köksal, K. (2020). Sosyal etki ve örgütsel adalet algısı ilişkisinde duygusal bulaşıcılığın düzenleyici rolü. Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 22(2), 455-466. google scholar
• Zohar, D. (1995). The justice perspective of job stress. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16(5), 487-495. google scholar