Assessing ethical efficacy, workplace incivility, and turnover intention: a moderated-mediation model

Abstract

Drawing upon the social cognitive theory and social identity theory, this study hypothesizes that ethical efficacy and perceived workplace incivility affect turnover intention via the full mediation of emotional exhaustion. At the same time, organizational identification is a moderator in the development of turnover intention. A field survey on 512 employees from high-tech and banking industries was conducted for empirical testing. Test results using structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression analyses reveal that emotional exhaustion fully mediates the relationship between workplace incivility and turnover intention, as well as between ethical efficacy and turnover intention. Organizational identification positively moderates the effect of workplace incivility on emotional exhaustion. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed based on the empirical findings.