Understanding the impact of abusive leadership on third-party observers' turnover intentions: Insights from organizational identification and authority orientation

Abstract

This study proposes and tests a conceptual model including three predictors (observed abusive leadership, workplace identification, and authority orientation) of third-party observers' turnover intentions. Analyzing responses from of 367 sales employees from Chinese hotels suggests that organizational identification partially mediates the relationship between observed abusive leadership and observer turnover intention. Also, observed abusive leadership is negatively associated with observers' workplace identification. Finally, authority orientation is negatively associated with observers' turnover intentions. This study contributes theoretically to understanding the repercussions of abusive leadership and offers managerial insights for hospitality firms to mitigate high turnover rates.