Leadership Styles and Employee Turnover Intention: A Meta-analytic Path Analysis

This study used meta-analytic estimates and path analysis with structural equation modeling to examine the effects of leadership on employee turnover intentions. This meta-analysis integrated different conceptualizations of leadership, classified them into three categories, and analyzed the relationship between each category of leadership and employee turnover. Results from 244 studies with a total sample size of 98861 and a total effect size of 332 showed that there is (1) a significant, negative correlation between positive leadership and turnover intention, (2) a significant, positive correlation between negative leadership and turnover intention, and (3) non-significant correlation between neutral leadership and turnover intention. As expected, the highest correlation arises between negative leadership and turnover intention. Moderator analyses found that publication status, study design, cultural differences, job type, and industry moderated some but not all pairs of correlations in the study. Meta-analytic path analyses further showed that positive and negative leadership effects on turnover intention were only partially mediated by job engagement.