Title: The mediating effect of psychological safety on the relationship between authentic leadership and turnover intention

Authors: Mehmet Hakan Durukan; Gamze Güner Kibaroğlu; H. Nejat Basım

Addresses: Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Baskent University, Turkey ' Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Baskent University, Turkey ' Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Baskent University, Turkey

Abstract: This study was conducted to examine the role of psychological safety in the effect of authentic leadership on turnover intention. In this framework, from the perspective of leader-member interaction theory, it has been shown that an authentic leader can reduce turnover intention. Within the scope of the study, data were collected from 340 participants by survey method and analysed. According to the results of the research, there is an inverse and significant relationship between authentic leadership and turnover intention. In addition, while authentic leadership affects psychological safety in the same direction, psychological safety negatively affects turnover intention. In addition to these results, the most important result of our study is that psychological safety plays a mediating role in the effect of authentic leadership on turnover intention. The results of the study showed that creating a transparent work environment based on authentic leadership and establishing basic psychological safety can reduce individual turnover intention.

Keywords: turnover intention; authentic leadership; psychological safety; leader-member interaction theory.

DOI: 10.1504/MEJM.2024.139579

Middle East Journal of Management, 2024 Vol.11 No.4, pp.357 - 381

Received: 22 Nov 2022
Accepted: 24 Jan 2023

Published online: 04 Jul 2024 *

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