Locus of control as critical moderator of the relationship between role stressors and intention to quit
Abstract
This research examines how employees’ locus of control moderates the relationships between role conflict, role ambiguity, and intention to quit when assessing the mediation effects of counterproductive work behaviour and work engagement. A quantitative method (survey) was used for this study, with 348 questionnaires completed online. The research results reveal that, with a strong internal locus of control, work engagement mediates the relationship between role conflict and intention to quit and between role ambiguity and intention to quit. The higher the internal locus of control, the more both role conflict and role ambiguity affect work engagement, leading to intention to quit. Moreover, the manifestation of locus of control varies according to the employee’s level of education, age, field of activity, and the organisation size. The study is the first to develop an integrative framework, which depicts how team-level factors comprehensively affect interrelations between role stressors and employee intention to quit. Our research delineates, explicates, and directs crucial aspects of human resource management in organisations. It also highlights that in studying the employee behaviour, scholars should inexorably assess situations in the complex manner that research demands to delineate employee workplace behaviour stemming from a combination of personal, contextual, and circumstantial factors.
Keyword : employee role conflict, role ambiguity, employee engagement, counterproductive work behavior, locus of control, intention to quit
How to Cite
Paulienė, R., Tamaševičius, V., Diskienė, D., Lazauskaitė, M., & Thrassou, A. (2025). Locus of control as critical moderator of the relationship between role stressors and intention to quit. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 26(2), 297–315. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2025.23595
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Islam, M. S., Amin, M., Feranita, F., & Karatepe, O. M. (2023). High-involvement work practices, work engagement and their effects on bank employees’ turnover intentions: The moderating role of functional competence. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 41(6), 1360–1388. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-04-2022-0157
Kissi, E., Ikuabe, M. O., Aigbavboa, C. O., Smith, E. D., & Babon-Ayeng, P. (2024). Mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between supervisor support and turnover intention among construction workers. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 31(13), 102–120. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-06-2023-0556
Koopmans, L., Bernaards, C., Hildebrandt, V., van Buuren, S., van der Beek, A. J., & de Vet, H. C. W. (2013). Development of an individual work performance questionnaire. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 62(1), 6–28. https://doi.org/10.1108/17410401311285273
Kuvaas, B. (2006). Performance appraisal satisfaction and employee outcomes: Mediating and moderating roles of work motivation. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(3), 504–522. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190500521581
Maden-Eyiusta, C. (2019). Role conflict, role ambiguity, and proactive behaviors: Does flexible role orientation moderate the mediating impact of engagement? International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(13), 2829–2855. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2019.1616590
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Ng, T. W. N., Sorensen, K. L., & Eby, L. T. (2006). Locus of control at work: A meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27(8), 1057–1087. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.416
Otoo, F. N. K. (2024). Does employee engagement mediate the nexus of job resource and employee turnover intentions? IIMT Journal of Management, 1(2), 130–170. https://doi.org/10.1108/IIMTJM-10-2023-0032
Pitariu, H., & Budean, A. (2020). The impact of occupational stress on job satisfaction and counterproductive work behaviour. Psihologia Resurselor Umane, 7(2), 30–39. https://doi.org/10.24837/pru.v7i2.437
Ramamurthi, K., Vakilbashi, A., Rashid, S. Z. A., Mokhber, M., & Basiruddin, R. (2016). Impact of job stressors factors on employees’ intention to leave mediated by job engagement and dispositional factors. International Review of Management and Marketing, 6(3), 528–531.
Saks, A. M., & Gruman, J. A. (2014). What do we really know about employee engagement? Human Resource Development Quarterly, 25(2), 155–182. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21187
Schaufeli, W., & Bakker, A. (2004). Utrecht work engagement scale. Preliminary manual. Utrecht University.
Srivastava, S., Saxena, A., Kapoor, V., & Qadir, A. (2024). Sailing through silence: Exploring how negative gossip leaves breeding grounds for quiet quitting in the workplace. International Journal of Conflict Management, 35(4), 733–755. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-07-2023-0139
Srivastava, S. (2009). Locus of control as a moderator for relationship between organisational role stress and managerial effectiveness. Vision, 13(4), 49–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/097226290901300405
Spector, P. E. (1988). Development of the work locus of control scale. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 61(4), 335–340. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1988.tb00470.x
Tamunomiebi, M. D., & Ukwuije, O. A. (2021). Workplace incivility and counterproductive work behaviour: A review of literature. European Journal of Human Resource, 5(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.47672/ejh.686
Turksoy, S., & Tutuncu, O. (2021). An analysis of the relationship between work engagement, work locus of control, passion, and parasitism in coastal hotels. European Journal of Tourism Research, 29, 2912–2912. https://doi.org/10.54055/ejtr.v29i.2439
Vrontis, D., Thrassou, A., Efthymiou, L., & Bozat, M. (2023). Delineating business for sustainability: Contextual evolution and elucidation. In D. Vrontis, A. Thrassou, L. Efthymiou, Y. Weber, S. M. R. Shams, & E. Tsoukatos (Eds.), Business for sustainability: Contextual evolution and elucidation (Vol. 2, pp. 1–19). Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37365-7_1
Wei, F., & Si, S. (2013). Tit for tat? Abusive supervision and counterproductive work behaviors: The moderating effects of locus of control and perceived mobility. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 30(1), 281–296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-011-9251-y
Xiong, R., & Wen, Y. (2020). Employees’ turnover intention and behavioral outcomes: The role of work engagement. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 48, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.8609
Xu, L., Du, J., Lei, X., & Hipel, K. W. (2020). Effect of locus of control on innovative behavior among new generation employees: A moderated mediation model. Social Behavior and Personality, 48(10), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.9379
Yan, C. H., Ni, J. J., Chien, Y. Y., & Lo, C. F. (2021). Does workplace friendship promote or hinder hotel employees’ work engagement? The role of role ambiguity. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 46, 205–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2020.12.009
Zhang, Y., Crant, J. M., & Weng, Q. (2019). Role stressors and counterproductive work behavior: The role of negative affect and proactive personality. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 27(3), 267–279. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12255
Zhao, J., Xiao, S., Mao, J., & Liu, W. (2018). The buffering effect of Machiavellianism on the relationship between role conflict and counterproductive work behaviour. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 1776. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01776
Agarwal, U. A. (2016). Examining perceived organizational politics among Indian managers: Engagement as mediator and locus of control as moderator. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 24(3), 415–437. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-07-2014-0786
Agarwal, U. A., & Gupta, V. (2018). Relationships between job characteristics, work engagement, conscientiousness and managers’ turnover intentions: A moderated-mediation analysis. Personnel Review, 47(2), 353–377. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-09-2016-0229
Aldea-Capotescu, R. (2013). Antecedents and mediators of employees’ counterproductive work behavior and intentions to quit. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 84, 219–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.538
Bellamkonda, N., & Pattusamy, M. (2024). Intention to stay and happiness: A moderated mediation model of work engagement and hope. South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 13(1), 74–89. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAJBS-05-2021-0174
Bowling, N. A., & Eschleman, K. J. (2010). Employee personality as a moderator of the relationships between work stressors and counterproductive work behavior. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 15(1), 91–103. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017326
Bowling, N. A., Khazon, S., Alarcon, G. M., Blackmore, C. E., Bragg, C. B., Hoepf, M. R., Barelka, A., Kennedy, K., Wang, Q., & Li, H. (2017). Building better measures of role ambiguity and role conflict: The validation of new role stressor scales. Work & Stress, 31(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2017.1292563
Cesário, F., Rodrigues, A., Castanheira, F., & Sabino, A. (2023). The role of reaction to feedback in the relationship between performance management, job satisfaction and the leader–member exchange (LMX). EuroMed Journal of Business, 18(1), 129–144. https://doi.org/10.1108/EMJB-04-2021-0054
Chatterjee, S., Chaudhuri, R., Vrontis, D., & Thrassou, A. (2022), Workforce service quality in the post-COVID-19 era: From the perspective of organization data-driven competency. Production Planning & Control, 35(13), 1579–1592. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2022.2065529
Chhabra, B. (2016). Work role stressors and employee outcomes: Investigating the moderating role of subjective person-organization and person-job fit perceptions in Indian organizations. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 24(3), 390–414. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-11-2013-0722
Chiu, S.-F., Yeh, S.-P., & Huang, T. C. (2015). Role stressors and employee deviance: The moderating effect of social support. Personnel Review, 44(2), 308–324. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-11-2012-0191
Christian, J. S., & Ellis, A. P. J. (2014). The crucial role of turnover intentions in transforming moral disengagement into deviant behavior at work. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(2), 193–208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1631-4
Conley, S., & You, S. (2014). Role stress revisited: Job structuring antecedents, work outcomes, and moderating effects of locus of control. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 42(2), 184–206. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143213499264
Fiabane, E., Giorgi, I., Sguazzin, C., & Argentero, P. (2013). Work engagement and occupational stress in nurses and other healthcare workers: The role of organisational and personal factors. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 22(17–18), 2614–2624. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.12084
Galvin, B. M., Randel, A. E., Collins, B. J., & Johnson, R. E. (2018). Changing the focus of locus (of control): A targeted review of the locus of control literature and agenda for future research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 39(7), 820–833. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2275
Gara Bach Ouerdian, E., Gaha, K., & Mansour, N. (2024). Does workplace incivility trigger the intention to self-initiate expatriation? An investigation among young Tunisian physicians. Journal of Global Mobility, 12(4), 669–690. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-02-2024-0006
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate data analysis (8th ed.). Cengage.
Hang-Yue, N., Foley, S., & Loi, R. (2005). Work role stressors and turnover intentions: A study of professional clergy in Hong Kong. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16(11), 2133–2146. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190500315141
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (1st ed.). The Guilford Press.
Islam, M. S., Amin, M., Feranita, F., & Karatepe, O. M. (2023). High-involvement work practices, work engagement and their effects on bank employees’ turnover intentions: The moderating role of functional competence. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 41(6), 1360–1388. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-04-2022-0157
Kissi, E., Ikuabe, M. O., Aigbavboa, C. O., Smith, E. D., & Babon-Ayeng, P. (2024). Mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between supervisor support and turnover intention among construction workers. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 31(13), 102–120. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-06-2023-0556
Koopmans, L., Bernaards, C., Hildebrandt, V., van Buuren, S., van der Beek, A. J., & de Vet, H. C. W. (2013). Development of an individual work performance questionnaire. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 62(1), 6–28. https://doi.org/10.1108/17410401311285273
Kuvaas, B. (2006). Performance appraisal satisfaction and employee outcomes: Mediating and moderating roles of work motivation. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(3), 504–522. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190500521581
Maden-Eyiusta, C. (2019). Role conflict, role ambiguity, and proactive behaviors: Does flexible role orientation moderate the mediating impact of engagement? International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(13), 2829–2855. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2019.1616590
Mihail-Yiannaki, S., & Bakirli, S. (2024). Leading factors in women migrant entrepreneurial success in Bavaria. In D. Vrontis, A. Thrassou, L. Efthymiou, Y. Weber, S. M. R. Shams, & E. Tsoukatos (Eds.), Business in uncertainty. Palgrave studies in cross-disciplinary business research, in association with EuroMed Academy of Business (pp. 225–250). Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-65587-6_11
Neves, M. E., Santos, A., Proença, C., & Pinho, C. (2023). The influence of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility on corporate performance: An Iberian panel data evidence. EuroMed Journal of Business, 18(4), 552–574. https://doi.org/10.1108/EMJB-01-2022-0002
Ng, T. W. N., Sorensen, K. L., & Eby, L. T. (2006). Locus of control at work: A meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27(8), 1057–1087. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.416
Otoo, F. N. K. (2024). Does employee engagement mediate the nexus of job resource and employee turnover intentions? IIMT Journal of Management, 1(2), 130–170. https://doi.org/10.1108/IIMTJM-10-2023-0032
Pitariu, H., & Budean, A. (2020). The impact of occupational stress on job satisfaction and counterproductive work behaviour. Psihologia Resurselor Umane, 7(2), 30–39. https://doi.org/10.24837/pru.v7i2.437
Ramamurthi, K., Vakilbashi, A., Rashid, S. Z. A., Mokhber, M., & Basiruddin, R. (2016). Impact of job stressors factors on employees’ intention to leave mediated by job engagement and dispositional factors. International Review of Management and Marketing, 6(3), 528–531.
Saks, A. M., & Gruman, J. A. (2014). What do we really know about employee engagement? Human Resource Development Quarterly, 25(2), 155–182. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21187
Schaufeli, W., & Bakker, A. (2004). Utrecht work engagement scale. Preliminary manual. Utrecht University.
Srivastava, S., Saxena, A., Kapoor, V., & Qadir, A. (2024). Sailing through silence: Exploring how negative gossip leaves breeding grounds for quiet quitting in the workplace. International Journal of Conflict Management, 35(4), 733–755. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-07-2023-0139
Srivastava, S. (2009). Locus of control as a moderator for relationship between organisational role stress and managerial effectiveness. Vision, 13(4), 49–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/097226290901300405
Spector, P. E. (1988). Development of the work locus of control scale. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 61(4), 335–340. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1988.tb00470.x
Tamunomiebi, M. D., & Ukwuije, O. A. (2021). Workplace incivility and counterproductive work behaviour: A review of literature. European Journal of Human Resource, 5(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.47672/ejh.686
Turksoy, S., & Tutuncu, O. (2021). An analysis of the relationship between work engagement, work locus of control, passion, and parasitism in coastal hotels. European Journal of Tourism Research, 29, 2912–2912. https://doi.org/10.54055/ejtr.v29i.2439
Vrontis, D., Thrassou, A., Efthymiou, L., & Bozat, M. (2023). Delineating business for sustainability: Contextual evolution and elucidation. In D. Vrontis, A. Thrassou, L. Efthymiou, Y. Weber, S. M. R. Shams, & E. Tsoukatos (Eds.), Business for sustainability: Contextual evolution and elucidation (Vol. 2, pp. 1–19). Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37365-7_1
Wei, F., & Si, S. (2013). Tit for tat? Abusive supervision and counterproductive work behaviors: The moderating effects of locus of control and perceived mobility. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 30(1), 281–296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-011-9251-y
Xiong, R., & Wen, Y. (2020). Employees’ turnover intention and behavioral outcomes: The role of work engagement. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 48, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.8609
Xu, L., Du, J., Lei, X., & Hipel, K. W. (2020). Effect of locus of control on innovative behavior among new generation employees: A moderated mediation model. Social Behavior and Personality, 48(10), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.9379
Yan, C. H., Ni, J. J., Chien, Y. Y., & Lo, C. F. (2021). Does workplace friendship promote or hinder hotel employees’ work engagement? The role of role ambiguity. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 46, 205–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2020.12.009
Zhang, Y., Crant, J. M., & Weng, Q. (2019). Role stressors and counterproductive work behavior: The role of negative affect and proactive personality. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 27(3), 267–279. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12255
Zhao, J., Xiao, S., Mao, J., & Liu, W. (2018). The buffering effect of Machiavellianism on the relationship between role conflict and counterproductive work behaviour. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 1776. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01776