The role of burnout in the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and turnover intentions

Despite rich evidence suggesting that perceptions of organizational politics are significantly related to turnover intentions, the reasons of the relationship are unexplored. This study aims to determine whether job burnout can serve as a mediator in the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and turnover intentions and which component of burnout is most effective in mediating this relationship. Moreover, burnout was investigated in a profession outside human services. Multiple regression analyses were employed to examine the relative importance of different components of burnout in mediating the effects of perceptions of politics on turnover intentions. The results revealed that exhaustion and cynicism were significantly and positively related to turnover intentions, and exhaustion was a more effective mediator than cynicism. Implications for understanding the role of burnout are discussed.