THE INFLUENCE OF TOXIC WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR ON TURNOVER INTENTION AMONG GENERATION Z EMPLOYEES: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PERCEIVED PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60101/gbafr.2025.279740คำสำคัญ:
Toxic workplace, Turnover intention, Toxic leadership, Workplace incivility, Perceived psychological safety, Generation Zบทคัดย่อ
Purpose – The purpose of this research was to study the influence of toxic workplace behavior, focusing on toxic leadership and workplace incivility, on the turnover intention of Generation Z employees through perceived psychological safety in the workplace.
Methodology – The research methodology was quantitative with survey method using questionnaires for data collection. The respondents were 400 participants who are Generation Z full-time employees living in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region. Descriptive statistics used for data analysis included frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Due to hypothesis testing, inferential statistics were used, specifically Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
Results – The research results indicated that toxic leadership and workplace incivility had a positive and significant effect on turnover intention at a significance level of 0.05. In addition, perceived psychological safety had a significant negative effect on turnover intention at a significance level of 0.001, confirming its role in mitigating employee turnover. The results also revealed that both toxic leadership and workplace incivility significantly reduced perceived psychological safety at a significance level of 0.001. Moreover, the mediation analysis demonstrated that these toxic workplace behaviors indirectly increased turnover intention by reducing perceived psychological safety, also at a significance level of 0.001.
Implications – The findings suggest organizations should prioritize psychological safety to reduce turnover among Generation Z employees by implementing supportive leadership behaviors, comprehensive training programs, and clear policies addressing toxic behaviors. Organizations must recognize that younger generations have lower tolerance for violations of personal rights and freedoms, requiring adaptations to management practices.
Originality/Value – This research revealed how toxic leadership and workplace incivility affect Generation Z employees' turnover intentions through perceived psychological safety. By examining generational differences in workplace expectations, the research provided guidance for organizations to develop leadership practices and workplace cultures that align with younger workers' needs, supporting long-term organizational sustainability.
เอกสารอ้างอิง
Amoadu, M., Ansah, E. W., & Sarfo, J. O. (2024). Preventing workplace mistreatment and improving workers’ mental health: A scoping review of the impact of psychosocial safety climate. BMC Psychology, 12(1), 195. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01675-z
Andersson, L. M., & Pearson, C. M. (1999). Tit for Tat? The Spiraling Effect of Incivility in the Workplace. Academy of Management Review, 24(3), 452-471. https://doi.org/10.2307/259136
Bagozzi, R., & Yi, Y. (1988). On the evaluation of structural equation models. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1), 74-94. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02723327
Billing, T. K., Bhagat, R. S., Babakus, E., Krishnan, B., Ford, D. L. Jr., Srivastava, B. N., Rajadhyaksha, U., Shin, M., Kuo, B., Kwantes, C., Setiadi, B., & Nasurdin, A. M. (2014). Work-family conflict and organisationally valued outcomes: The moderating role of decision latitude in five national contexts. Applied Psychology, 63(1), 62-95. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2012.00526.x
Buyukyilmaz, O., & Kara, C. (2024). Linking leaders' toxic leadership behaviors to employee attitudes and behaviors. Serbian Journal of Management, 19(2), 393-412. https://doi.org/10.5937/sjm19-43650
Carmeli, A., & Gittell, J. H. (2009). High-quality relationships, psychological safety, and learning from failures in work organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30(6), 709–729. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.565
Cochran, W. G. (1953). Sampling techniques. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Cortina, L. M., Magley, V. J., Williams, J. H., & Langhout, R. D. (2001). Incivility in the workplace: incidence and impact. Journal of occupational health psychology, 6(1), 64–80.
Deloitte. (2021). Read the 2021 Global Human Capital Trends special report. Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/human-capital-trends/2021/human-capital-trends.html
Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350-383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
Fong, Y. L., & Mahfar, M. (2013). Relationship between occupational stress and turnover intention among employees in a furniture manufacturing company in Selangor. Jurnal Teknologi (Sciences & Engineering), 64(1). https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v64.1673
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50. https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312
Forte, D. W., Silva, K. C. N., Almeida Cunha, C. J. C., & Silva, S. M. (2024). Study of the relationships between leadership and psychological safety: An integrative review. Revista E-TECH: Tecnologias Para Competitividade Industrial, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.18624/etech.v17i1.1317
Frazier, M. L., Fainshmidt, S., Klinger, R. L., Pezeshkan, A., & Vracheva, V. (2017). Psychological safety: A meta-analytic review and extension. Personnel Psychology, 70(1), 113-165. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12183
Hair, J. F., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2013). Partial least squares structural equation modeling: Rigorous applications, better results and higher acceptance. Long Range Planning, 46(1-2), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2013.01.001
Harsha, H., Satyanarayana, D., & Pushpa, B. V. (2024). Erosion of Psychological safety at workplace: Strategic interventions to address the issue. International Journal of Business and Management Invention., 13(12), 23–26. http://doi.org/10.35629/8028-13122326
Hebles, M., Trincado-Munoz, F., & Ortega, C. (2022). Stress and turnover intentions within healthcare teams: the mediating role of psychological safety, and the moderating effect of covid-19 worry and supervisor support. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 758438. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.758438
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 115-135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8
Hidayat, M. A., & Wulansari, P. (20 25). The effect of toxic leadership on turnover with job satisfaction as a mediating variable (Case study of generation Z in West Java). International Journal of Scientific Research and Management, 13(01), 8186–8200. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.18535/ijsrm/v13i01.em01
Jackson, D., Usher, K., & Cleary, M. (2024). Workplace incivility: Insidious, pervasive and harmful. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 33(3), 483-486. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13315
Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692-724.
Kim, T.-U., & Yun, S.-M. (2023). A study on the effect of psychological safety climate of 5-star hotel employees on job stress, psychological well-being, and turnover intention. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Studies, 25(6), 21–35. https://doi.org/10.31667/jhts.2023.06.101.21
Liu, W., Zhang, P., Liao, J., Hao, P., & Mao, J. (2016). Abusive supervision and employee creativity: The mediating role of psychological safety and organizational identification. Management Decision, 54(1), 130-147. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-09-2013-0443
Lopes, T., Soares, A., & Palma-Moreira, A. (2025). Toxic leadership and turnover intentions: emotional intelligence as a moderator of this relationship. Administrative Sciences, 15(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci15010026
Manzoor, M. T., Manzoor, T., & Khan, M. (2020). Workplace incivility: A cynicism booster leading to turnover intentions. Decision, 47(1), 91–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40622-020-00238-6
Mehta, S., & Maheshwari, G. C. (2013). Consequence of toxic leadership on employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The Journal of Contemporary Management Research, 8(2), 1-23.
Naeem, F., & Khurram, S. (2020). Influence of toxic leadership on turnover intention: The mediating role of psychological wellbeing and employee engagement. Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences, 14(3), 682-713.
Negara, A. I. S., Helmi, M. F., Wijaya, A. T., & Madistriyatno, H. (2023). How important psychological safety is in supporting strategic management to achieve success: a narrative literature review. Open Access Indonesia Journal of Social Sciences, 6(5), 1083-1091. https://doi.org/10.37275/oaijss.v6i5.175
New York Post. (2024, August 27). Being rude at work could actually get someone killed: Study. https://nypost.com/2024/08/27/lifestyle/being-rude-at-work-could-actually-get-someone-killed-study/
Nohe, C., & Sonntag, K. (2014), Work-family conflict, social support, and turnover intentions: A longitudinal study. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 85(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.03.007
Özer, Ö., Uğurluoğlu, Ö., Kahraman, G., & Avcı, K. (2017). A study on toxic leadership perceptions of healthcare workers. Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal, 9(1), 13.
Paltu, A., & Brouwers, M. (2020). Toxic leadership: Effects on job satisfaction, commitment, turnover intention and organisational culture within the South African manufacturing industry. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 18, a1338. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v18i0.1338
Permatasari, E., & Sugito, P. (2025). Exploring the impact of workplace incivility on turnover intention: Job satisfaction as a mediator in RedDoorz Malang. Journal of Research in Business and Management, 13(1), 45-50. https://doi.org/10.35629/3002-13014550
Porath, C. L., & Pearson, C. M. (2012). The price of incivility: Lack of respect hurts morale—and the bottom line. Harvard Business Review, 90(1-2), 114-121.
Rahim, A., & Cosby, D. M. (2016). A model of workplace incivility, job burnout, turnover intentions, and job performance. Journal of Management Development, 35(10), 1255-1265. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-09-2015-0138
Rasool, S. F., Wang, M., Zhang, Y., & Samma, M. (2020). Sustainable work performance: the roles of workplace violence and occupational stress. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(3), 912. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030912
Rode, J. C., Rehg, M. T., Near, J. P., Underhill, J. R. (2007), The effect of work/family conflict on intention to quit: The mediating roles of job and life satisfaction. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 2, 65-82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-007-9030-6
Rudolph, C. W., Rauvola, R. S., & Zacher, H. (2018). Leadership and generations at work: A critical review. The Leadership Quarterly, 29(1), 44-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.09.004
Savalei, V., & Bentler, P. M. (2005). A statistically justified pairwise ML method for incomplete nonnormal data: A comparison with direct ML and pairwise ADF. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 12(2), 183-214. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1202_1
Schmidt, A. A. (2008). Development and validation of the toxic leadership scale. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 68(11-B), 7633
Shrivastava, A., & Sharma, A. (2024). Exploring employee turnover intention: The impact of toxic leadership and the mediating roles of cognitive distraction and workplace bullying in the organizational landscape. International Research Journal of Multidisciplinary Scope, 5(3), 349-358. https://doi.org/10.47857/irjms.2024.v05i03.0730
Siddiqui, H., & Iqbal, J. (2024). What happens when a leader is toxic? A qualitative investigation. Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), 13(1), 429-435. https://doi.org/10.61506/01.00225
Sobaih, A. E. E., Gharbi, H., & Abu Elnasr, A. E. (2022). Do you feel safe here? The role of psychological safety in the relationship between transformational leadership and turnover intention amid covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 15(8), https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15080340.
Sundari, S., Tjahjono, H. K., Hartono, A., & Prajogo, W. (2023). Inter-role conflict and intention to quit with psychological strain as a mediator. International Review of Management and Marketing, 13(2), 10–18. https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.14192
Tate, C. W., & Chalhoub, S. (2024). Managing uncivil behaviour in the workplace. Nursing Management, 31(5), 35-42. https://doi.org/10.7748/nm.2024.e2138
Tepper, B. J., Moss, S. E., & Duffy, M. K. (2011). Predictors of abusive supervision: Supervisor perceptions of deep-level dissimilarity, relationship conflict, and subordinate performance. Academy of Management Journal, 54(2), 279-294. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2011.60263085
Wang, Y. (2022). The impact of psychological safety on workplace friendships and job satisfaction in China. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 60(1), 246-267. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12298
Wolor, C. W., Ardiansyah, A., Rofaida, R., Nurkhin, A., & Rababah, M. A. (2022). Impact of toxic leadership on employee performance. Health psychology research, 10(4), 57551. https://doi.org/10.52965/001c.57551
Yin, J., Qu, M., Li, M., & Liao, G. (2022). Team leader’s conflict management style and team innovation performance in remote R&D teams—With team climate perspective. Sustainability, 14(17), 10949. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710949
Yuan, K. H., & Bentler, P. M. (2000). Three likelihood-based methods for mean and covariance structure analysis with nonnormal missing data. Sociological Methodology, 30(1), 165-200. https://doi.org/10.1111/0081-1750.00078
ดาวน์โหลด
เผยแพร่แล้ว
รูปแบบการอ้างอิง
ฉบับ
ประเภทบทความ
สัญญาอนุญาต
ลิขสิทธิ์ (c) 2025 Faculty of Business Administration, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi
อนุญาตภายใต้เงื่อนไข Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
